Never Forgotten
by Anne-Lilian
Summary: SEQUEL to A Sunless Garden. It had been 9 years since she last saw him, 9 years since their falling out. And now he was everywhere; "Billionaire Oliver Queen Alive". Felicity now has to deal with what happened all those years ago. And the masked vigilante who keeps popping up isn't helping. Rated T to be sure, Eventual Olicity.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Here it is! I've finally started! This is a prologue, so starting from chapter 2, it'll all take place during season 1. I don't really have any concrete plans for this story, so I'm basically making this up as I go, so bear with me.**

 **If you haven't read A Sunless Garden, don't read this, it won't make any sense. If you have read it, welcome back, and enjoy the chapter!**

 **Chapter 1: Prologue**

 **Oliver POV**

Oliver Queen was the guy every girl wanted to be with and every guy wanted to be. He was ridiculously rich, led a carefree life, and had a pretty nice girlfriend. But that wasn't how he saw himself.

For a moment, he let himself enjoy the sea breeze that drifted over from the ocean, before looking down at the picture in his hands. A smile tugged at his lips. The people in the picture were little more than children, and in some ways, they still were. Or at least he was. Felicity had dyed her hair blonde that day, for the Halloween fair. It suited her sunny personality, even though he knew she hated to resemble her mother in any way. And being blonde was something her mother did, not her. But Oliver had been different then, too, and in more ways than just his haircut. Felicity had changed him, made him into a better person. A person Oliver had later forgotten how to be after he'd pushed her away.

He sighed as he thought about that. It was the thing he regretted most in his life, and he'd wanted to reach out to her so many times. He knew she was at MIT, and he'd seen a picture of her, sporting black hair with purple highlights and heavy make-up. She looked even less like herself than back at FCA. She was dating, too, though Oliver had heard the guy had been arrested for cyberterrorism. Tommy kept him up to date, and though he should, Oliver couldn't ask him to stop. Call him a creep, but he still loved her. She deserved better, and looking back on the last couple of years, he was glad she hadn't had to see the mess he'd made of himself over the years.

He'd found the picture in an old wallet, and he hadn't been able to stop looking at it since.

"Ollie, are you coming?" A voice behind him broke through his reverie.

Oliver turned around and smiled at Sara. "I'm coming," he called back. He'd tried to get back with Laurel after graduating, but they just didn't work, and in the end, they'd agreed to just be friends. That didn't mean that the brunette had been thrilled when he'd started dating her younger sister, though.

Sara and him were… complicated didn't really cover it. They weren't really serious, and it was more having fun than anything else. She knew about the picture, and was smart enough to know that the girl on it was important to him, even if she didn't know who it was.

Oliver took one last look at the picture, before putting it safely back into his wallet. He'd talk to her when he got back from this trip. Who knew, maybe there were still miracles in this world, and she'd actually want to talk to him?

"Ollie!" Sarah yelled from behind him. She'd just said goodbye to Laurel, and was waiting impatiently on deck for him.

He grinned and jogged over. For now, he'd just have fun. He'd sort out everything else later.

/*/

 **Felicity POV**

It was warm outside. Coming from Nevada, Felicity was used to it, but it somehow seemed wrong now. It should be pouring down, black skies and lightning, as if the very world was fighting against what had now become her truth. But it wasn't. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. At least it was quiet, Felicity couldn't even hear any birds. But then, the Queens were probably rich enough that they had people who kept those pesky birds away from their mansion.

Yes, Felicity Smoak was on Queen land. Tommy had gotten her inside, and then left her to work through this alone. She hadn't even really wanted to come, but for some reason, Moira Queen had decided to bury her son and husband near her house, instead of at a cemetery.

So now here she was. Felicity shifted uncomfortably. She didn't know what to do. She didn't cry, though she felt like that was the more appropriate option, and she didn't say anything. She just stared. It wasn't even like he was actually buried there, since his… since he was never found.

Felicity took a deep breath and stepped forward, putting a few pebbles onto the slate grey headstone. It was somber, and majestic. It was everything Oliver had never been.

She glanced to the other headstone. She'd only met Robert Queen very briefly, and hadn't known the man at all, but his headstone fit him perfectly.

God, there was so much she wished she could have told Oliver, and even more she wished he had told her. But in the end… they had been themselves. Sometimes she was convinced that they would have grown apart over time, even if they hadn't had that big fight 4 years ago. Everything with Oliver was… intense, hard. He was one of those people who felt incredibly deep, whether that was love or hate.

Felicity pressed her hand against the headstone one more time before walking back over the sunny lawn. She didn't go inside, she doubted she'd see anyone anyway, instead walking around the house back to the driveway. Tommy was leaning against his car, apparently done talking to whoever he'd managed to get a hold of. He looked pretty bad, but then, Felicity doubted she looked any better. Perhaps a little more composed.

"Ready to go?" he asked once she was close enough.

Felicity shot one more look over her shoulder to that huge, empty mansion. She thought she saw Thea peek out from behind a curtain, but she couldn't be certain. "Yeah. I'm ready."

She got in the car, and they drove away. Felicity was finally ready to put Oliver Queen behind her.

 **A/N: So, what did you guys think? I know it's a little more introspective than my usual work, but I promise there will be more action in the next chapter. Oliver will be back from the island!**

 **Before anyone asks, no, I won't be working with flashbacks. Everything that happened on the island and in Hong Kong remains pretty much the same, so it would be a bit pointless.**

 **Anyway, leave me a review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey guys! I know it's been a while, but it was really hard to write this. I think I'll get into the swing of it soon though, but the tone of this story is completely different, and it's taking me a while to get used to it. Anyway, most of this is Felicity POV, but no interaction with Oliver yet, that comes in the next chapter.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 2:**

 **Felicity POV**

Unlike last time she had received life-changing news, this time, the phone call came first. Felicity was at work, writing new code for a computer security program she was writing for Queen Consolidated, when her phone rang. She picked it up without checking the display. "Just a sec," she said, stuffing the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she finished a line of code. "Okay, hi."

"Felicity…" it was Tommy, and he didn't sound good.

"Tommy, what's wrong?" she asked, turning away from her computer. This conversation would probably require her undivided attention. "Is it Laurel? Is she okay? Oh god, it's not Thea, is it?" she asked, dangerously close to babbling.

"No, no, they're fine, it's… Felicity… Oliver's alive."

Nothing happened.

Felicity didn't drop her phone, the sky didn't fall, nor did hell freeze over. The world kept on spinning, as it always had, whereas _her_ world had turned itself upside down.

What was she supposed to say to that? She knew Tommy wouldn't joke about that, much as he thought he could joke about everything else. Felicity wasn't even sure what to think. Oliver was alive?

"How?" she breathed. She couldn't move, could hardly think, so of course her brain thought that _how_ was the important question here.

Tommy sighed. "He got shipwrecked on an island in the North China Sea. It's going to be all over the news any minute now. Moira's gone to pick him up from the hospital, and I invited myself over for dinner." He hesitated. "You could come, you know. Thea would love to have you there."

Felicity took off her glasses and massaged her forehead in hopes to counteracting the headache that was already pounding in her skull. "Moira barely tolerates me on most days, I doubt she'd be happy to see me on her first family dinner with her son. Besides… it's been 9 years Tommy. I barely knew who he was before he spent 5 years alone on an island…"

She could picture Tommy running a hand through his hair in the few seconds it took him to answer. "I know. I'll let you know how it went, okay?"

"Okay. Tell Thea I said hi, and that she can call me if she needs me."

And with that, the conversation was over.

It still hadn't really sunk in that _Oliver was alive_ somehow. Closing her eyes, Felicity leaned back in her chair. She remembered when she'd gone to Oliver's grave to say goodbye. It had felt strange and empty to her then, and she idly wondered if somehow she'd _known_. Which was ridiculous, of course, but a girl was entitled to some delusions… right?

Ugh, she couldn't deal with this, she needed coffee. Felicity saved her work and headed over to the employee lounge. The TV was on, and a few coworkers were crowded around it, but she tuned it out. Turning on the coffee machine, she leaned against the counter and glanced over at the TV. And promptly froze. Oliver's smiling face covered the screen, while the news anchor recounted his whole history.

It seemed that she wouldn't be able to avoid Oliver after all.

/*/

 **Oliver's POV**

Being back was… harder than he'd imagined. He couldn't seem to connect with his family, and everything he said seemed to either make them uncomfortable or angry. Thea, who had been just a kid a second ago, was now 17, and apparently not a stranger to drugs or alcohol, his mother had remarried a man Oliver could barely remember as his dad's CFO… At least Tommy was still the same. A little calmer than he remembered, but 5 years would do that to a person.

Oliver had given Thea the Hozen in the hopes that she would see that he was there for her, and that she could trust him. And then Tommy had taken him out to see the city. "Could we drive down to the glades?" he asked his friend unexpectedly.

Tommy raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded all the same. That was one of the perks of having been presumed dead; people tended to want to give you whatever you asked for, and didn't really ask questions.

"This city has gone to crap," Tommy said quietly as he parked the car. They were across the street from the old Queen factory, which had been exactly what Oliver had wanted to see. Oliver had known how badly the city was doing, of course, but it was still hard to watch the city he loved suffer. "Your dad sold his factory just in time. Why'd you want to see this anyway?" Tommy asked, sounding only mildly curious.

"No reason," Oliver evaded.

Tommy shrugged. "So, what did you miss the most? Stakes at the palm, drinks at the Station?" He grinned lewdly. "Meaningless sex?"

 _Felicity._ "My family," he replied instead. "You and Laurel."

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Don't go getting all deep on me, saying that it's the people, not the material things you miss," he said, teasing.

Oliver managed a smile. "Oh, trust me, after a month on a deserted island, there's nothing you miss more than a Big Belly burger and a hot shower," he joked.

Tommy laughed. This was familiar ground, this was what Tommy expected him to do. Even after all these years, he was still doing what people expected of him. "So where to next? We have some time before the first bars open," Tommy asked.

"Laurel."

Tommy's smile fell. "Ollie, everyone is glad you're back. You really want to see the one person who isn't?" he asked quietly.

Oliver and Laurel had been on good terms before he'd left. Or, as good as they could be, considering he was dating her little sister, and she didn't approve. "I need to see her, Tommy." _I need to apologize._

Tommy stared at him for a minute, before nodding. "Okay."

Oliver knew it wasn't going to be easy. He never expected it to be, especially considering the circumstances in which he left. Laurel blamed him for Sara's death, and she had every right to. After all, he'd been the one to convince Sara to sneak out after her dad had grounded her. And then she'd died.

It was Oliver's fault, and Laurel deserved an apology. He just hoped she would accept it.

/*/

 **Felicity's POV**

Felicity sipped her coffee. She'd desperately needed it after the day she'd had. The news of Oliver Queen's return had been the talk of the entire country for the past 2 days, and there was simply no avoiding it. Worse, she _worked_ at Queen Consolidated, and you could be sure that the latest gossip somehow always found its way to the IT department.

Sighing, Felicity shifted in her seat. He was late, and she didn't like sitting here alone. She knew it was silly, but she always felt like she looked like a loser, sitting at a booth all by herself. It hadn't even been her idea to come here, but it was his favorite place to eat.

She was about to signal a waitress for a refill when he finally slid into the seat opposite to her. "Hey there, Smoak, fancy meeting you here," Tommy said, that insufferable smirk of his already in place.

Felicity rolled her eyes, she loved Tommy like a brother, but he could be so childish sometimes. "Yeah, what a weird coincidence," she replied sarcastically, but a smile was already tugging at her lips. His childishness was part of his charm, after all.

"So, how's your day going?" he asked, grinning.

"You did not ask me to lunch to ask me how my day's been going," she said, giving him a wry look.

Tommy's smile fell a fraction, but years of dealing with paparazzi and other media had taught him to keep his composure well. "No, you're right. But I do want to know how you are. You're still my friend, Smoak, whether you want to be or not." And there was that familiar self-confident smirk again.

Felicity was about to answer when her phone rang. Glancing at the screen told her that Katie had apparently heard the news too. "Hey Katie," she said when she answered her phone.

"Hey Lissa. How are you?" she asked with forced cheer. They'd remained close friends after FCA, and grown even closer when Katie had broken up with Cody, and Felicity had gone through that whole ordeal with Cooper. Suffice to say that Felicity knew her friend well. Well enough to know when she was avoiding talking about something.

"Why does everyone want to know how I'm doing today? We both know you didn't call to ask that, Katie," she replied with a tired sigh. Tommy's smirk only grew as he heard Felicity's side of the conversation.

"Okay, you're right-"

"I'm always right." Felicity paused for a moment as Tommy ordered their food. He knew her well enough to know what she liked, so she didn't pay any attention.

"Shut up," Katie said, but Felicity could hear the smile in her voice. "I just saw the news, and I wanted to know…" She trailed off.

"You want to know how I'm dealing with… all this," Felicity said. "I'm okay. I haven't seen him. I'm fine, I promise. I haven't seen the guy in 9 years, okay, I've had a life since then." She winced at her poor choice of words. Oliver hadn't had much of a life since… "But I promise I'm not on the verge of a breakdown, nor am I going to dramatically proclaim my love for him."

"Promise?" Katie said with a wicked edge to her tone. She was enjoying this far too much.

"I promise, now go away, I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay, bye, Liss!"

Felicity hung up the phone and shot Tommy a sheepish look. "Apparently, you're not the only one who thinks I can't deal with this situation," she said, managing to sound at least somewhat scolding.

Tommy laughed. "Whoever that was, I like them!"

Felicity rolled her eyes. "You know who it was, you met Katie at my birthday party, remember? You flirted with her."

Tommy threw her a look. "Then she's on a very long list of women I flirted with."

Reaching over, Felicity slapped his shoulder. It wasn't very hard, but it was the thought that counted. "You're gross."

Tommy was grinning again. "What can I say, women love me, I can't help it." He threw a wink at the waitress who had just arrived with their food, and the girl blushed deeply, making sure to smile at the billionaire.

Sighing, Felicity put her elbows on the table and leaned forward, waiting until the girl had left to speak again. "You didn't ask me to lunch to discuss your success with women," she said. Then she paused and made a face. "I hope. Because I am so not the girl for that. I'm not the wingwoman kind of person. If that even is what a wingwoman – wingperson? Is there a term for that? – Anyway, I don't even know what a wingwoman is supposed to do, I've never been one. Katie's said that she's mine, but I still don't–"

"Felicity," Tommy interrupted. "No offence, but you're not my wingwoman. Don't really need one anymore, remember?"

She took a breath. "Right. Sorry. Go on."

"I want to throw Ollie a welcome back from the dead bash," he said with a grin. "I told him to just give me the word, and a location, and I'd take care of it."

"He's just spent 5 years completely alone, Tommy, did it ever occur to you that all this may be a little overwhelming? And throwing in ample amounts of liquor and, you know, eager women, might not be the best idea." She was blushing, she knew, but she did her level best to ignore it.

Tommy's grin never faltered. "Exactly, he's been alone! I can only imagine how much he's starving for a tequila and some meaningless sex."

Felicity looked away for a moment. She was so not discussing Oliver's possible sex life. Talk about uncomfortable. "I don't know why you're even telling me this, Tommy, I haven't spoken to Oliver in years," she said.

"I want you to be there." And that was the most sincere thing he'd said since he'd slid into that booth.

"Tommy–"

"No, hear me out. I know you think he's forgotten all about you, but he hasn't. At least, he hadn't before the island. He asked me not to tell you, but he not-so subtly tried to find out stuff about you. How you were doing, if you were happy, what you were majoring in, that sort of stuff."

Felicity didn't know what to say. So, for 4 years after they'd had their fallout, he'd still wanted to know how she was doing? She really wanted to be angry that he never reached out, but hadn't she done the same thing? Through Tommy, and – to a lesser extent – Katie, she'd tried to figure out what was going on in his life.

Did it surprise her that he cared? A little. On the one hand, she knew Oliver felt everything deeply, more so than most people realized, and so he tried his best to hang on to every meaningful connection he made. But on the other, he'd seemed to revert back to 'Ollie Queen' as soon as she was out of his life; going back to partying and getting arrested.

"Please come. I can't make you talk to him, but it's going to be the party of the year, and just can't miss it," he said, his tone a lot less light than his words.

Felicity sighed. She supposed it couldn't hurt. It would give her an opportunity to break in that new dress she'd bought. "Fine. But no pushing me, I mean it, Merlyn," she said, waving a finger and mock-glaring at him.

He grinned at her and dug into his food. "It'll be fun, you'll see," he said around his full mouth.

"You're disgusting, Merlynn," she said, amused.

He just shot her another grin. Felicity sighed and took a bite out her burger. What was she getting herself into?

 **A/N: So? What did you guys think about this chapter? How does it compare to ASG?**

 **Please leave a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well... this took a long time to write... As you can all see, my laptop is now fixed, and they managed to save a lot of my data, including all my fanfictions! Yay!**

 **As for this chapter, I know it took a long time to write, and I really don't have an excuse except writer's block. I just couldn't get back into this story, even after I'd written the first two chapters. And the worst thing is that I still can't promise regular updates... I'm also working on two Merlin fics, and I'm rewriting a Percy Jackson fic, and completely ignoring my Criminal Minds fic... I'm one of those people who just can't help themselves when they come up with new ideas, I have to write them all and I always post them... Anyway, this chapter, at least, is done, so enjoy!**

 **Chapter 3:**

 **Felicity POV**

Felicity looked herself over in the mirror. Was she nervous? Absolutely. Was she going to fake an illness to get out of this? She wasn't sure yet.

God what was she doing? Oliver probably barely remembered her, let alone wanting her to be at his party. Why had she let Tommy talk her into this? She smoothed out some non-existent wrinkles on her blue dress and fixed her already perfect hair. A glance at the clock revealed that she was already seriously late, and not in the fashionable way, either.

Sighing, she grabbed her purse and her coat and took the elevator down to the ground floor. Her Volkswagen was parked just around the corner, so she hurried over, hoping she'd still be able to find a parking spot.

About 15 minutes later, she stood in front of the entrance, steeling herself to go inside. It was crowded, to say the least, and she had no idea if anyone she knew was inside. Except Tommy, of course. God, she should have made one of her friends come over so she wouldn't have to face this alone. Taking a deep breath, she went inside.

The music was loud, but the song that was currently playing was one Felicity actually liked, so there was that at least. As she squeezed herself through the crowd to get to the bar, she wondered what she was doing here. She wasn't even –

"Felicity!" a voice shouted over the music. She turned to see Thea Queen grinning at her, a glass of champagne in her hand.

"Thea, it's good to see you," she said, though she frowned at the glass.

The younger Queen had the decency to look mildly sheepish, and leaned in for a hug. "I wasn't sure you'd come!" And gone was the guilt.

Felicity shrugged, smiling. "Can I have that?" she asked, and took the glass out of Thea's hand without waiting for a reply. Thea rolled her eyes, but didn't seem overly bothered by the not-so-subtle attempt at keeping her from drinking. Felicity downed the glass – and immediately winced. It might have been champagne at one point, but there was definitely something stronger mixed in with it now.

"So, how's work?" Thea asked dutifully, even as she smiled coyly at a guy at the bar.

Felicity barely contained a groan. She was going to have to work a little harder to keep Thea from her alcohol. "It's fine. My superior is still an incompetent jerk, but I managed to prevent the system-wide shutdown he almost caused."

The cute guy from the bar sauntered over – though Felicity wasn't entirely sure how he managed that with a thick crown like this – and offered Thea a glass of… something pink. Thea smiled again, before turning her attention back to Felicity. "You should tell Walter about him. QC would be a lot more effective if we didn't have idiots like him as department heads. I could put in a good word," she suggested.

The guy seemed completely unbothered by Thea ignoring him, and began dancing with another girl, though his eyes remained on the brunette. Felicity made a mental note to remind the guy that this was Thea Queen, and thus underage. "Yeah, no thanks," she said in response to Thea's suggestion. While her boss was an ass, he had 3 kids to support, and Felicity didn't really want the added responsibility of being a department head. Even though it'd be nice to actually get paid for all the extra work she was putting in.

Thea shrugged. "Your loss. I'll talk to you later, okay?" And without waiting for a reply, promptly turned to the cute guy and started dancing with him. Weird. Thea had seemed lucid enough, and Felicity didn't think she'd had that much to drink yet…

Felicity pushed it from her mind. Talking to Thea about not drinking alcohol was far more efficient if done when she was suffering from a hangover.

All of a sudden, the music stopped, and Felicity could hear someone shouting on the stairs near the entrance. "Man of the hour!" It was Tommy.

Not even hearing the cheers that went up at that statement, Felicity's eyes fixed on the person standing next to Tommy. Oliver looked… good. He was grinning as Tommy thumped him on the back. He looked older too, but she supposed that was normal, seeing as he'd been 17 when she'd last seen him. And he hadn't just been marooned on a deserted island for 5 years either. Frowning, Felicity noticed that his grin wasn't very genuine, and she vaguely wondered how Tommy couldn't see that. Then she mentally smacked herself. It had been 9 years, what did she know about his smiles anymore?

Tommy had said something else, but Felicity hadn't been able to catch it, as the DJ started playing 'We are the champions' and Tommy led his best friend over to a small stage. Felicity was standing right by it, and took a step back, hoping Oliver wouldn't see her. This wasn't exactly how she'd imagined their reunion. Not that she'd spent a lot of time imagining anything about Oliver, or, well… okay, maybe she had, but that was private and completely beside the point.

Downing his shot glass, he just shouted, "I miss tequila!" and then the music went came back on and people cheered. Felicity tried to tell herself she didn't know him anymore, that she didn't know his expressions, but looking at him now, she knew he was wearing his mask again. It was the same party-boy persona he'd used when she'd first met him, and it hadn't been him back then, and it wasn't him now.

She got jostled by a couple of women who joined Tommy as Oliver got off the stage. Irritated, she turned around, intent on making her way back to the bar and getting another drink. That proved difficult, though, as the bar was swamped with people wanted to get even more drunk than they already were.

She shouldn't have come. Her feet were already started to hurt, she kept getting crowded and there were too many people in here. Felicity sighed. She was going home, Tommy could complain about it in the morning.

So, of course, she walked straight into someone. "I'm so sorry, I didn't–" the words died on her tongue as she stared up into very familiar eyes. "Oliver," she breathed.

"Felicity?" he asked, frowning at her.

Oh god. Panic clawed at Felicity's insides, but she was frozen, unable to look away from his face.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. A tiny smile was pulling at the corner of his mouth, and all Felicity could think was that it was the first genuine expression she'd seen on his face all evening.

"Uhm… kind of a long story," she said eventually. She was still feeling a little flustered, but at least she wasn't a statue anymore.

"Let's talk somewhere more quiet," he said, putting a gentle hand on her elbow. Great, _now_ how was she supposed to focus?

He led her to the lobby of the building, where the music wasn't quite as loud. A huge luminescent globe was floating there, and Felicity idly wondered if it was suspended by a really thin cord or something. She hoped it wouldn't fall down, it looked kind of heavy.

"How long have you been in town?" Oliver asked, shaking her from her thoughts. Right, uncomfortable conversation ahead. She had to pay attention.

"Uhm. A few years. I, uhm… I work for QC," she admitted. Now that she was focused on him again, she couldn't look away. The lines of his face were harder now, which was to be expected if someone lived on a deserted island for five years, but there was something cold in his eyes too, something that hadn't been there before. The scruff suited him, though.

Oliver smiled, amused. Oh crap, she'd said that last bit out loud hadn't she? "Thanks. So I take it you went to MIT?"

"You remember that?" she asked, surprised. It was something she'd mentioned offhand to him maybe once or twice 9 years ago.

His smile turned a little sheepish. "Yeah, for some reason it stuck."

"All that tutoring and _that_ was what stuck?" she teased. Felicity realized that she'd relaxed. Talking to Oliver felt as natural as ever, even though they had some less than pleasant memories and 9 years of ignoring each other between them.

"What can I say? Thick skull," he replied.

Felicity laughed. "No kidding. I think I consciously blocked out how many times I had to explain basic math to you."

He smiled, and this time it was completely genuine. Nothing fake or half-hearted about it. "How are you, Felicity?" he asked, and she could tell that he really wanted to know.

She shrugged. "I'm okay. I mean, my supervisor at work can be an ass, but I've already vented at Thea about that," she said.

"Thea?" Oliver asked, confused. "How do you know Thea?"

"Uhm…" she said, intelligently. "Tommy introduced us after you'd… you know, died," she explained awkwardly.

Oliver frowned. "I didn't know you knew Tommy."

And the tension was creeping back into Felicity's shoulders. Shit. "I… I met him at your birthday party. He said you made bad decisions but that you cared about me," she said quickly. Crap, she hadn't meant to say that.

Oliver looked angry, but she didn't think it was directed at her. "Don't be angry with Tommy, I asked him years ago not to tell you," she said, stepping closer to him.

"Why?" Was that actual hurt she heard in his voice? It couldn't be…

"Because you hurt me, Oliver. And Tommy suggested giving you time, so I did, even though I was giving myself time too, and then I went to MIT, and then that whole – never mind. But then I look at a TV, and suddenly, you're not there anymore. I wanted to give you time, and then you… you died," she babbled. "And obviously you're not dead, but I didn't know that, and I thought I'd lost my chance, so when I graduated and I had to pick a place to work… It sounds stupid, but I thought working at QC could… I don't even know." Felicity put a hand on her stomach, trying to get her slightly erratic breathing back under control. She surprised to find she felt… upset. Which was ridiculous, because she'd gotten over all this ages ago.

Oliver was looking at her with a soft expression she didn't recognize. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Felicity. Tommy's right, I make stupid decisions sometimes."

If she hadn't been looking at him so intently, she wouldn't have seen the slight change in his face. Suddenly, his eyes hardened, and he sort of a sad edge to them. "But that wasn't one of them. You're trying to see the best in me, Felicity, but this is just who I am," he said.

"That is bullshit," she said, finding her own resolve building as she watched him retreat behind his walls again. "Look, I don't know what happened to you on that island, and I barely know what was going on with you before that, but I _know_ you. You can fool the entire world, you can even fool yourself, but you're a better person than you allow yourself to be, Oliver, and you can't fool me." She looked him square in the eyes, and she could tell he hadn't expected her to react like that. No doubt he'd thought she'd be hurt and she'd leave. Well, though luck for him. "You may have changed, but you're still the same guy who tried to protect me from kidnappers while struggling with a severe concussion. All you're doing by pretending otherwise is hurting the people around you."

Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but his phone beeped. He glanced at it quickly before slipping it back into his pocket. "You're wrong," he said softly. "I'm not the same man I was before." He gazed at her for another moment before taking a step back. "Enjoy the rest of the party," he said with a fake smile. "I know I will." And then he turned around and walked away.

Felicity sighed and rubbed her forehead. Okay, now she was definitely going home. Tommy could interrogate her about this later. For now, all she wanted was a glass of wine, cuddling with her cat in her comfy PJs while watching David Tennant running circles around a couple of Daleks.

 **A/N: Ah, Doctor Who... I love that Felicity is such a geek. Anyway, what are your thoughts on this chapter? They saw each other! Albeit briefly. Still. I know a lot of you asked me not to let Oliver get off easy, and I won't, but right now they have to figure out how to talk to each other first, before actually getting through their issues.**

 **Please, tell me what you thought!**

 **Review reply:**

 **MellarkHall: Don't worry, this won't be as slow burn as the last one, but it will still take some time. I'm so glad you liked it, and I hope you're still with me :)**

 **Edit: I added something in that last sentence. Kudos to the readers who're rereading this and spotted the change!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Okay, so I know it's been way too long since I updated, and I'm really, really sorry about that. But I did include something in this chapter that some people have been asking about, so there's that.**

 **I can't promise I'll start updating regularly again, but I'll do my best. Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Chapter 4:**

Felicity did end up getting her fix of Doctor Who and wine, and it calmed her down somewhat. Enough that she decided to call Katie. She told her friend all about what had happened, and what Oliver had said.

"In a way, he hasn't changed at all," Felicity sighed. "He's still hiding behind that stupid jerkface mask of his, just like he did back in high school."

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and Felicity took advantage of it to down her glass of wine.

"You know," Katie said hesitantly, "Oliver may have had his faults, but he was a good guy."

"When did you jump onto the I-love-Oliver bandwagon?" Felicity asked, a little waspishly. Wasn't Katie supposed to be on _her_ side?

Katie sighed, and there was a sound of fabric rustling, like she was moving about. "He made me promise not to tell you…"

Well that came out of nowhere. Felicity frowned, not really having expected an answer to her question. "Tell me what? What are you talking about?"

"Do you remember Nathan? Nathan Statham?" Katie asked, sounding nervous. Which was weird, what would she be nervous about?

"Of course… he broke my heart. What does he have to do with anything?"

"Oliver asked me not to tell you, he said he only wanted you to have good memories. He wanted to protect you." Felicity could practically _hear_ Katie biting her lip, and that couldn't be a good sign.

"Protect me? Katie what the hell are you talking about?"

"Nathan wasn't the guy you thought he was, Lissa. He was… The day before he transferred, I overheard him talking… He…" Katie trailed off.

This was getting weird. "What?" Felicity asked, a tad impatiently.

"He said he was going to have sex with you, whether you were conscious through it or not. He was talking about date rape drugs, Liss."

Felicity couldn't speak for a moment. "But… how… what happened?" Her hands were trembling, so she set her glass down before she dropped it.

"I sprinted back to find you, but I ran into Oliver first. I didn't know what to do, so I told him everything. He said not to tell anyone about it, and make sure that you stayed in. So, I faked feeling ill, I even cancelled my date with Cody, remember? When we heard that Nathan was in the infirmary the next day… I knew Oliver had gone to him, and probably threatened him to never talk to you again or something. He later asked me not to tell you anything about it."

"But… why would he do that?" Felicity was so confused.

"Because he loved you. He loved you more than anything else, and he would have done anything to protect you."

"Oliver didn't love me. He couldn't have," Felicity said, more to herself than her friend. " _He_ broke my heart too."

"He thought you deserved better, and that he would only make your life miserable, so he acted like he didn't care, like a complete jerk." Katie shrugged. "I told you, he wanted to protect you… at all costs…"

Felicity wanted to say that she was confused, that it wasn't possible, but… Hadn't she just told Oliver that she still remembered him as the guy who tried to protect her from kidnappers? Did it really surprise her that he'd go to such lengths to protect her?

"Why tell me now?" Felicity asked, mostly to distract her from her own thoughts and doubts.

"He promised me not to tell, but now he's…" Katie trailed off, but Felicity knew exactly what she meant. Now that Oliver was essentially back from the dead…

It had been years since Felicity had spoken to Oliver – their conversation at the party aside – but somehow, he was still there, still affecting her. And still trying to protect her, even from himself. "Katie, I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure, sweetie. Call me whenever you need," Katie replied, and hung up.

Sighing, Felicity slumped down further into her couch. This day had already been so exhausting, she wasn't sure if she'd be in any way productive tomorrow. Luckily, she only had to go into work at noon. At least she wouldn't have to deal with Oliver and that whole mess. She doubted he'd go to his family's company any time soon.

Oliver. Predictably, her thoughts returned to the billionaire playboy. As much as she knew him, she just couldn't figure him out. Then again, maybe she didn't know him anymore. Maybe he really had changed on that island.

Felicity sighed again. There was no use thinking about it today, she'd just have to push it from her mind and try to get a few hours of sleep. Glancing at her phone, she saw that it was 2 am. She went to bed.

Unfortunately, her dreams wouldn't leave her alone either.

/*/

 _She was on an island, and she was running. For some reason, she knew this was the island that Oliver had been on, even though it looked a little more like a tropical jungle than an island in the North China Sea probably should._

 _She jerked as she heard someone running behind her. Pushing herself to go faster, she tried to see who it was. But the person – or animal, or whatever it was – kept itself hidden behind bushes and trees. She felt panic clawing at her throat, but she couldn't give in now, she had to survive, had to get back. She couldn't remember where she had to get back to, but that wasn't important._

 _So, of course, like a complete cliché, she tripped over a tree root and fell face-first into the jungle floor. Except that it was a beach now. One of those beautiful, white-sand-and-clear-water kind of places. But despite the bright sun and the exotic location, she was freezing. She whirled around, but there was no sign of her pursuer._

 _Felicity looked around, desperate for anything that might help her. Again, she didn't know exactly what she needed help with, but that was irrelevant._

 _She brushed the sand off her hands and started off to her left. She hadn't gone more than a few paces, before she was suddenly standing on a cliff, even though she was sure she hadn't seen any cliffs earlier. In front of her lay a pile of stones, and a figure was kneeled in front of it. Whoever it was looked like they'd been through hell. Tattered clothes and long, matted hair couldn't hide the fact that it was a woman, though. Cautiously, Felicity walked around to see the woman's face._

 _Her own tear-streaked eyes stared back at her. "It's your fault. He pushed and pushed, and you just let him. And now he'd gone," dream-Felicity said, her voice broken and hoarse._

 _Felicity finally looked at the pile of stones and realized that it was a grave. A board of driftwood was placed where the body's head would be, and read–_

She woke up with a gasp, her body drenched in cold sweat. She'd been dreaming. Something about a beach, and a jungle, and… had someone died? Felicity shook her head to clear it. The more she grasped for the remnants of her dream, the faster they faded.

Shivering, she sat up and glanced around her bedroom. The light filtering through her curtains was tinged grey. It wasn't even dawn yet. She glanced at the clock. 4:15 am. With a groan, she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but it would be several hours before she would be able to.

/*/

It was a week before Felicity had the guts to show up at Queen Manor again. She'd promised Thea to go for lunch, and the younger Queen had sworn that Oliver had a court date and wouldn't be home.

Felicity should really have remembered rule number one of being friends with Thea Queen: Thea Queen lies.

When Raisa – the housekeeper – opened the door, Felicity smiled and shrugged off her coat, just like she'd done a hundred times before. Before Raisa could close the door behind her, though, Tommy slipped in.

"Smoak, didn't expect to see you here. Especially after you ran out on my party without saying goodbye," he said with a smirk.

Felicity rolled her eyes as she handed her coat to Raisa. "You look like you survived just fine. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oliver's getting resurrected, no way I'm going to miss that," he said, and walked towards the sitting room. It was actually a living room, but Felicity always felt that it was way too fancy to be a living room, hence the mental name change.

She'd followed Tommy all the way there until her brain finally caught up with her and she realized just what he'd said. Oliver was still here? Oh, that sneaky, little–

"Four times, by my estimate," she heard Tommy say, as she trailed after him. He went on to list every time Oliver'd had to go to court, but Felicity was barely listening. Thea had noticed her and sent her a smile that was _just_ this side of gloating, while Moira barely acknowledged her. Walter inclined his head, and Oliver had yet to spot her, thanks to Tommy's taller stature.

She tuned back into the conversation just as Oliver asked if Thea would join them in court.

Thea smirked. "Can't, Felicity and I are going out for brunch," she said cheerily, keeping her eyes on her brother.

"Felicity? I… I didn't realize you knew each other," Oliver said, and Felicity could decide whether the slight hitch was adorable or worrying.

"Of course we know each other, we're, like, total BFFs. Besides, you introduced us, remember? Isn't that right, Felicity?" Thea asked innocently, finally turning to her.

Felicity could feel herself blushing. "Uhm. Yeah, when you guys visited us in Gotham. Us being Katie and me, or should that be 'Katie and I'? I've never been very good at grammar, and I'm babbling, I'm sorry."

Both Thea and Tommy looked amused, while Oliver just looked shocked to see her there. Walter and Moira didn't offer any kind of reaction, probably having grown used to her babbling in the years since she'd started hanging out with Tommy and Thea in the Queen Manor.

Luckily, though, no one had to respond to Felicity's grammar ramble, as a man she didn't know walked into the room. "Mrs. Queen, the car is ready," he said.

He wasn't Moira's usual driver, so Felicity was a little confused as to who he was. And of course, Oliver noticed her confusion. "Where are my manners? Felicity, this is John Diggle, my bodyguard. Diggle, this is Felicity Smoak, and old friend of mine," he said, all charm, and no babbling in sight. Or hearing, really.

Felicity offered a small wave, to which the man – Mr. Diggle – smiled.

"Now that introductions are over, perhaps we can leave? I don't think it's proper to be late to one's own legal resurrection," Moira said. Not waiting for a response, she walked out the door, closely followed by Walter, who nodded politely.

Tommy shot Oliver a look, and slung an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, man, time to get you back from the dead."

Felicity and Oliver made eye contact one last time, before the latter was ushered out of the room, leaving Felicity with a still-smirking Thea.

"Yeah, there's no tension there at all," Thea said, walking over.

Glaring half-heartedly, Felicity crossed her arms. "No need to lay on the sarcasm quite so thickly, Thea."

The younger woman laughed and put an arm around the blonde's shoulders. "Actually, I kind of really did."

Felicity resisted the urge to drop her head into her hands and just ignore the brunette, but managed to keep her head up. As Thea led her upstairs, arm still firmly in place, though, she really wished she'd have stayed home that day. "So, do you have the hots for my brother?"

 **A/N: I love writing Thea, she's so funny! I hope I'm doing her character justice.**

 **Anyway, please tell me what you think, especially about the revelation at the beginning of the chapter!**

 **Review replies:**

 **Jenna: Thank you! I'm glad you like it. Not a whole lot of interaction in this chapter, but I hope you liked the bit that was there.**

 **Stacey: He's an ass, but he'll get better, I promise!**

 **Summer89: Here it is! I hope you liked it!**

 **Guest: you're so sweet! I will, thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: So, this took a whole lot longer than I'd anticipated. Real life and writer's block got in the way. I'm so sorry for taking this long!** **I promise I won't abandon this story, I like it way too much.**

 **Anyway, enjoy the chapter! It's a little shorter than usual (about 100 words or so), but a short chapter is better than none, right? I'll try to update by next Saturday, but I can't promise I'll be able to...**

 **Chapter 5:**

"Seriously, though, do you still have feelings for my brother?"

They were seated in a far too fancy bistro, and Felicity was staring intently at the menu, even though she still hadn't read a word of it. When Thea didn't immediately ask another question, though, she looked up to see the brunette looking at her seriously, no trace of a smirk in sight.

Sighing, Felicity put the menu down. "I barely know Oliver anymore, Thea, and I haven't talked to him in nearly a decade."

Thea pursed her lips and looked at her suspiciously. "I don't know, it didn't look like nothing at the house."

Felicity rolled her eyes. "First of all; you don't have a house, you have a castle, and second; all you saw back there was the awkwardness between us."

Thea didn't look convinced, but held up her hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, whatever you say." Then she looked a little more serious. "He seems better when you're around is all I'm saying," she said with a shrug.

"What do you mean 'better'?" Felicity asked, confused.

"Just… he seems a little more relaxed. He tries to hide it, but he's all tension. His first night back, mom found him having a nightmare as he slept on the floor in front of the open window-"

"Wait, there was a rainstorm that night."

Thea raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"What? I pay attention to stuff like that," Felicity said defensively.

"Suuuuure. Anyway, that's not all. Mom tried to wake him, and he judo flipped her and tried to strangle her," Thea finished in a whisper.

Felicity could only stare. She'd known that the island had changed him, but this… It made her wonder exactly what he'd had to do to survive. Luckily, she was saved from replying by the arrival of the waitor. Dazedly, she just ordered whatever Thea was having and hoped that it wasn't snails or something. She didn't think so; Thea didn't look like a snail person… Then again, _someone_ must eat them, right?

Felicity shook her head. She wasn't a very picky eater, she'd manage. As she took a sip of her water, her attention was drawn to a TV hanging in the corner. The news was on, but while the sound was muted, Felicity had no problem understanding what it was about. 'Oliver Queen, officially resurrected', it was quite the headline, but Oliver looked tense, his eyes cast down as he pushed through the throng of reporters clamouring for his attention.

"He used to love the media's attention," Thea said, having followed Felicity's gaze. "But I guess five years of complete isolation would make anyone's patience run thin, right?"

"Can you blame him?" Felicity said softly, keeping her eyes on the television.

"I wouldn't, except that he doesn't talk. Ever. All he does is avoid mom, ignore or insult Walter and judge me. You know, I wanted my brother back so badly, I forgot how much of an ass he can be."

Turning back, Felicity frowned at the brunette. "I wouldn't want to talk about something like that either." Thea opened her mouth to protest, but Felicity cut her off. "Can you even imagine? Just for a second, try to imagine being on a deserted island, probably starving and malnourished, with no one to talk to, in harsh conditions… Sounds like a pretty traumatizing experience to me, something he may not want to burden anyone else with. Or relive it by telling someone."

Thea was the one frowning now. "You know, for someone who claims she doesn't know him enough to have feelings for him anymore, you're pretty insightful."

Felicity had no idea what to say to that…

/*/

Sometimes, it seemed like Felicity's life was a non-stop soap opera. First, she falls for the richest, cutest guy in school, then, the guy saves her and she kisses him, but he doesn't remember due to a head injury. Next, the guy breaks her heart, and they stop talking to each other, only for him to die in a boat accident. Fast forward a couple of years, and she's good friends with the guy's little sister, when, lo and behold, the guy turns out not to be dead.

There was far too much drama in her life already, but Felicity figured her workplace was still safe. After all, even if she _did_ work in his family's company, why would Oliver be going there?

Right?

So, when Felicity's boss told her to run down to the lobby to sign for a new piece of tech they'd ordered, she was not expecting Oliver to be standing there.

"Oliver?" she said before she could stop her stupid mouth from moving.

"Felicity, what are you doing here?" he asked, turning around.

"I work here. In the IT department. Why are you here? You hate corporate stuff," she said, confused. Then, she noticed the man standing behind Oliver. "Sorry, hi. Mr. Diggle, right?" she said with a polite smile as she extended her hand.

The other man raised an eyebrow, but smiled and shook her hand anyway. "Just Diggle's fine."

"Wow, you have a strong handshake. I mean, of course you do, you're a bodyguard. Not that I know all that many bodyguards, so I can't really compare. Am I rambling?" she said, talking far too rapidly.

Diggle chuckled. "It's fine."

For a moment, they stood around a little awkwardly. "So, why are you here?" Felicity asked Oliver before the silence got too oppressing.

"I just wanted to see my dad's company," he replied evasively. "Look, we should go. I'll… talk to you later?"

Felicity forced a smile. What a brush off. "Sure. Thea has my number." God, _why_ had she said that? It was basically an invitation to call her. A stupid, desperate-sounding invitation.

Oliver, however, just nodded and followed Diggle out of the building.

Shit, that went badly.

/*/

The next day was supposed to be calm, relaxing, and completely Oliver-free.

So naturally, fate decided to intervene.

Felicity had slept in late and was enjoying a well-deserved chocolate donut. Or, at least, well-deserved in her own opinion anyway. She'd been just about to get a hot chocolate for herself, when her phone rang. Groaning at the unwelcome distraction, she glanced at the caller ID.

Huh. Thea…

She'd talked to the brunette just yesterday, and she'd thought the youngest Queen would be busy all day, so it was a bit weird that she'd be calling now. Gingerly, she answered the call.

"Hey, Thea."

"I can't believe him," the younger woman said angrily.

"I'm fine, thank you so much for asking. How was your day?" Felicity asked sarcastically. She jammed her phone between her head and her shoulder and went back to making her hot chocolate. If Thea wanted to vent, she could do it while Felicity kept enjoying her morning.

"I'm sorry," Thea said, sounding at least somewhat contrite. "It's your day off and I'm calling you to complain about Oliver."

"It's okay, Thea, I'm starting to get used to it again. What did he do now?" she asked, adding 3 spoonfuls of cocoa powder to her Doctor Who mug. It was a big mug, okay, any less powder and it would just be milk.

She was only listening with a half ear when Thea answered. "He just doesn't talk to keeps it all bottled up inside, and it kills me to see him shutting everyone out like that. He didn't used to be like that."

Felicity really wanted to say that, yes, Oliver had definitely been like that. The only difference was that the things he was hiding now were probably more traumatic than what he used to deal with in high school. But Felicity also didn't want Thea to think that she'd never really known her brother. She remembered how close the siblings had been back then, and tarnishing that image wasn't on her to do list for today. So, she just agreed. "He really should talk to someone," she said, somewhat absentmindedly.

"Oh, thank you! I knew I could count on you! I think he's free tonight, but you should text him to be sure. You do have his number, don't you?" Thea rambled.

"Wait, what?" Knowing Thea had her own unique view of the world, and being able to keep up with it were two very different things, Felicity knew, but this time she was really confused. "I'm doing what?"

"You'll talk to him." The 'duh' was implied. "I'll let him know that you'll get in touch, bye!"

And with that, hurricane Thea hung up.

What on earth had just happened? And on her day off, too…

/*/

Honestly, Felicity had forgotten about her conversation with Thea as soon as she turned on Doctor Who. She'd gotten a bit behind on season 7, and, though she wasn't sure what she thought of Clara yet, the episodes were _so good_!

So when Oliver showed up on her doorstep that night, she was somewhat shocked.

"Oliver! What are you…" she trailed off when the memory hit her. She groaned. "Crap, Thea… I'd completely forgotten, I'm sorry."

Oliver, however, seemed more amused than anything else. "I can come back some other time if you want?" he asked. Felicity detected the slightest hint of awkwardness in his voice, which calmed her and made her focus.

She waved him on in. "No, I'm fine. Come in."

A quick glance down at her outfit made her groan. She was wearing marvel pyjama pants and a baggy men's shirt with a dalek on it. Not exactly the most alluring clothes. Not that wanted to seduce Oliver or anything like that!

Felicity winced as her thoughts immediately went back to the one kiss they'd shared when they were teenagers. God, what was wrong with her?

Oliver was looking at her with an unreadable expression underneath his fake polite smile. Smoothing a hand over her hair - despite it being in a bun - and pushing her glasses up, she came to stand on the other side of the kitchen bar. Best to put some distance between them. "Coffee?" she asked awkwardly.

There was that amused smile again. "Sure, thanks."

Felicity turned around to the machine. "How do you take it? Or, wait, I should be offering decaf, shouldn't I?" she said, trying to get the damn machine to stop making the coffee. "It's 8pm, of course it should be decaf. Unless you're planning to stay up late, which I'm sure you are. I mean, not that I'm presuming to know your plans or anything, I'm not a stalker, I-"

A hand landed gently on her elbow, sending a shiver through her. "Regular's fine, Felicity," Oliver said softly. His voice was so smooth, Felicity thought that he could make a lot of money just by recording audiobooks or something. Not that he needed the money, but still.

Ever so gently, he took her hands off the coffee machine and - keeping her between his chest and the counter - took over the job of making coffee. It was such an intimate position, Felicity blushed. Mostly because she had the vague thought that she'd be okay if he just kept standing there forever. Breathing became a bit of a problem though, so Felicity quickly stepped out of his arms and put some distance between them.

Once Oliver was done, he left the machine to make coffee, and turned around to face her. Felicity had no idea what to say, so she mentally cursed Thea again. Why would she do this to her? She and Oliver weren't even friends!

"So…" she said, to fill the silence. "How are you?"

"I'm sorry," Oliver said.

/*/

 **A/N: Okay, a little bit of a sudden cutoff, but the entire conversation was too long, and deserved it's own chapter, imo, so I cut it off here.**

 **Also, I think I'm going to get Felicity involved with the Arrow a little sooner than in canon; I feel like this story needs more action. And more throwbacks to ASG, so expect some familiar people to show up!** **  
**

 **Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Okay, so it's been a while, sorry about that! I've been caught up in my various other fics and school and a new job and stuff... Anyway, I won't keep you very much longer, just know that I have loved all the wonderful reviews and that your support really does make me write more!**

 **Edit: I added a little bit in the middle of this chapter to make sense of a scene that's coming in chapter 8. Just a heads up for the people who are confused about the sudden appearance of Felicity's cat.**

 **Chapter 6:**

 _Previously:_

" _So…" she said, to fill the silence. "How are you?"_

" _I'm sorry," Oliver said._

Felicity blinked. "Um, what?" She had no idea what he was even talking about and the non sequitur was a bit puzzling. Usually, she was the one not making sense.

"I'm sorry. For everything. For what I said all those years ago, and for what I said at the party last week... You were right. I do push people away."

Felicity opened her mouth she really had no clue what to say to that. Maybe Oliver _had_ changed.

"I… What happened to me on that island…" Oliver trailed off, turning to face the kitchen island and leaning his elbows on it, almost like he needed the support. "Thea thinks I should talk about it, but…"

Felicity sighed. While she couldn't even imagine what he'd gone through, she did have an idea of what he was trying to say. "I understand," she said. "I can just tell Thea that we talked, and she'll stop bothering you. Well, she'll bother you less. I hope."

Oliver smiled; an easy, honest smile. "I had no idea you two were so close," he remarked.

When the coffee machine dinged, Felicity went and grabbed his cup and handed it to him. "Well, it kind of started when we were in Gotham. The Disney marathon, remember? We started hanging out when I moved here." She paused thinking of the first time they'd spent time together. "It was all Tommy's fault, really. He'd invited me for a celebratory drink and brought Thea along."

"He brought Thea for a drink?" Oliver said, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, it was more of a celebratory coffee at 3 in the afternoon, and we got her a hot chocolate. Anyway, that was 3 years ago, and we've been going out for lunch or going to the movies ever since. She's a nice kid."

Oliver looked thoughtful as he sipped his coffee, and Felicity took the opportunity to go sit down in the living room. "Is that weird for you? It's weird, isn't it?" Felicity asked, feeling a little uncomfortable again.

"A little," he admitted, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch. "But I'm glad she had someone to talk to."

They lapsed into a slightly uncomfortable silence as they sipped their coffee. A noise from her bedroom made Oliver tense. He looked ready to jump up and attack an army or something.

"Ignore that, it's just my cat," she said, waving away his concern.

It took a second, but then Oliver relaxed again and looked back at her. "I didn't know you had a cat," he commented.

"I do. He's a bit shy of new people, but he's a sweetheart. His name's Byte," she said proudly.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Bite? As in… to bite?" he asked gingerly.

Felicity just sighed and rolled her eyes. Everyone always got his name wrong, the poor thing. "No, _Byte_ , as in a byte of storage on a computer," she explained.

"Ah," Oliver said, articulate as always. Suddenly, the image of Byte curled up on Oliver's chest popped into Felicity's head, and the blonde had to quickly take a sip from her drink and hope that Oliver hadn't noticed her blush.

"So… how was your visit to QC?" she asked, hoping to distract him and fill the somewhat awkward silence that had fallen.

Oliver shrugged. "It's not that different than I remember… Mom and Walter want me to take over the company," he said tensely. He kept his eyes on his cup and Felicity knew that this was one of the safer topics he needed to talk about.

"And you don't want that?" she asked.

Oliver grimaced at his cup. Felicity hoped it wasn't because of the Firefly print on the side. "Yeah, I never figured you for that kind of life… But you know they can't _make_ you do anything, right?" Oliver shot her an inscrutable look. "If you don't want to do it, then don't. No offense to your family, but if they want to force you to do something that will make you unhappy, they're kind of being asses. And I just realized that that was totally offensive, and I'm sorry, I'm sure Moira is wonderful person once you get to know her, but she's a little intimidating, you know? And Walter is nice, and he's a good boss, but he still has that British stiff upper lip thing going on, and-"

"Felicity," Oliver interrupted.

For a brief second, she thought he'd be annoyed, like most people were when she started rambling, but he was grinning at her. "You're something, you know," he said, still smiling at her.

Felicity blinked. "Uhm… Thanks?" Was that supposed to be a compliment?

"I have to admit, I wasn't expecting to feel better after talking to you, and I almost didn't come, but… I do. Feel better, I mean. Thank you," he said sincerely.

Feeling heat rush to her cheeks, and Felicity tried her best to hide it. "Well, you're welcome," she said. "I told Thea that I didn't really know you well enough anymore for this kind of conversation, but I guess I did okay, didn't I?" she said cheekily, turning back to face him.

Oliver quirked an eyebrow at her. "I think you know me better than anyone." He said it in such a matter-of-fact way, like it was as normal as saying the sky was blue, that Felicity blushed again.

She laughed a little awkwardly to sidestep the intimate turn the conversation had taken, and put her now lukewarm mug on the coffee table. "Oh, I don't know about that. I don't even know your favorite color."

Mirth sparkled in his eyes - God, how much of a cliche was _that?_ \- as he mirrored her position; one arm slung over the back of the couch and one leg resting on its pillows, facing her. "What's _your_ favorite color?" he asked curiously.

"Green," she replied immediately. "But not like an ugly green, more of a deep, forest-y green, you know? Oh, and blue." Felicity shut her mouth, feeling another babble session coming on. Instead, she pulled out her necklace and started fiddling with it, as she always did when she was nervous or bored.

Oliver's eyes were immediately drawn to it, shock evident on his features. "You still have it…" he whispered.

It took Felicity a moment to figure out what he meant, but a glance down at the motherboard necklace she almost always wore made her realize. "Oh, this? Yeah, I hardly ever take it off," she said, shrugging.

"Felicity, I gave that to you in high school," he said, sounding almost… awed? "I never would have guessed that you…"

Not knowing what to say to that, Felicity squirmed in her seat, glancing around to find a different topic of conversation. Her eye fell on the green rug underneath the coffee table - forest green, of course. "What's your favorite color?"

Oliver was still looking at her necklace, but looked up at her question. Slowly, a grin spread over his face. "Green," he replied.

"Faker, I chose that one already," she teased, glaring jokingly at him.

"Oh, and you have a monopoly on that color as your favorite?"

"I absolutely do!"

"Well, then I pick blue," he said, clearly holding back laughter. Felicity hadn't seen him this cheerful in almost a decade, and it was great. She just wanted to make sure that his mask stayed off, at least for a little while.

"I picked that one, too, you can't choose blue," she protested.

"You picked green first! By definition, you can only have one favorite color!" he said, grinning widely.

"Fine," she conceded with mock resignation. "But I pick cats as my favorite pets!"

"That's okay, I'm a dog person."

That's when Felicity started laughing in earnest.

/*/

They kept talking for what seemed like hours, migrating from each other's favorites - Felicity's favorite type of food was Italian, Oliver's was Mediterranean - to the people in each other's lives - Felicity mentioned Katie and the sparse contact she still had with Dylan and Lettie, Oliver grew a little tense and said that Tommy was still his best friend. He did mention Laurel; that they'd had a bad break up, and that Laurel now blamed him for Sara's death, even though she'd been marginally okay with them dating before the boat went down.

It was obvious to Felicity that Oliver blamed himself for Sara's death, as well, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. Still, one part of that blame game could be resolved.

"You should make things right with Laurel. I'm sure that if you just talk to her, she'll see that it wasn't your fault. And maybe once you've convinced her of that, I can get it through that thick skull of yours that Sara dying wasn't on you," she said, smiling softly at him.

Oliver retreated back behind his mask, and Felicity's smile melted off her face. Before he could offer up an excuse, though, she went on; "Laurel is just angry at the situation in general, not you. And she'll feel much better once she's forgiven you and has had time to grieve properly, without anger getting in the way… You'd be helping _her_ with this, Oliver, not just yourself," she reasoned.

A tiny crack appeared in the mask, and Felicity knew she was getting through. "Just try. For her."

He nodded, and they moved on from the subject. Oliver mentioned that he and Laurel - and later Sarah, too - would often get a tub of ice cream and eat it straight from the container. Felicity asked if there was any other way you were supposed to eat ice cream.

"But, hey, you can use that as a way to break the ice. No pun intended. Okay, so it was slightly intended, I like puns, sue me," she said.

Oliver smiled crookedly, and Felicity decided that it was her second favourite Oliver smile. Not that she was keeping a list or anything.

"You're really not going to let this go, are you?" he asked rhetorically. She shook her head anyway. He sighed resignedly. "Fine." And then he got up and went to get his coat.

"Where are you going?" Felicity asked, and desperately hoped she didn't sound as dissapointed out loud as she did in her head.

"To Laurel's. Might as well get it out of the way."

Pushing the little stab of jealousy to the back of her mind, Felicity smiled at him and joined him by the door. "I know it's ridiculous to say this, and it probably makes no difference at all, but… I'm proud of you, Oliver," she said.

He just looked at her for a moment, and for once, Felicity didn't feel awkward, just happy. "It does matter," he replied softly.

And then he was out the door, and she was alone in her apartment again.

/*/

"I thought you were going to talk to him!"

Felicity looked up from her desk, surprised. She'd planned to meet Tommy for lunch, but it seemed Thea had invited herself along. They were currently standing in Felicity's office, while the latter quickly saved her work. If she knew Thea and Tommy, this would probably distract her from work anyway.

"Uhm. I did," she replied. Then she got suspicious. "Why, what happened?"

Tommy sighed. "Oliver fucked up, majorly."

Felicity's eyebrows flew up. "What did he do?"

"He embarrassed mom and Walter, not to mention himself. He showed up drunk at the opening of dad's applied sciences center, and announced loudly and in a totally rude way that there was no way he was going to take over the company," Thea explained angrily, crossing her arms and plopping down into the only remaining chair.

Felicity didn't really know what to say, so she offered Tommy her chair and leaned on her desk instead. "I don't understand. I know he didn't want to take the job, but this is a little extreme…" she said eventually.

"Wait, you _knew_?" Thea demanded, now glaring at the blonde.

"That's not what she said, Speedy," Tommy interrupted.

"Don't call me that!" Thea snapped.

Before this could turn into an actual shouting match, Felicity intervened. "I only knew that he wasn't happy that his mom was pressuring him to take the job. He told me that he's not like his father, and he has no desire to be. Besides, Walter's been running the company perfectly… It's just not who he is," she said.

Thea rolled her eyes and crossed her arms stubbornly, but Tommy threw her a curious look.

"Look, I'll see if he'll talk to me again, okay? But I can't promise that he'll agree to meet, let alone listen to me," Felicity said.

Thea made a non-comitant sound, but she seemed somewhat mollified. Tommy just shrugged. "Whatever you say, Smoaky. Now, let's go, I'm starving!"

Felicity rolled her eyes, but gathered her stuff anyway. "Unless I suddenly start resembling a bear, I'll kindly ask you never, _ever_ to call me 'Smoaky' again."

Tommy grinned as he preceded the girls out of the office. "Aww, but it's so cute!" he protested teasingly.

The blonde glared at him. "May I remind you that I can send a hundred pron magazines to your dad's office in your name? Or make it seem like you're involved with the Russian mob? I could make you disappear with a few keystrokes, Merlyn, remember that."

Tommy paled slightly as he watched Felicity walk away. Thea smirked. "She's kidding, right?" he asked, only slightly panicked. "Right?" His voice was rising in pitch, which only made Thea smirk wider as she followed her blonde friend down the hall, leaving Tommy Merlyn trailing behind them uncertainly.

 _Good to know I still have it_ , Felicity thought, a touch gleefully.

 **A/N: I keep forgetting how young Thea is here, she's still in** _ **high school**_ **. How weird is that?**

 **I wrote this chapter in 2 or 3 sessions, so if it feels like the tone of the chapter moves around, it's mostly because of that. Sorry! I hope you liked the conversation Oliver and Felicity had, it was a lot of fun to write, and I cannot wait until I get to the episode where Felicity joins the team. I might even have her join up earlier, who knows?**

 **Anyway, please let me know what you think, and review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So, this chapter has been done for a while, but it just felt too short; like it was missing something. So after a lot of procrastinating, I went back over it and buffed it up a little. I hope y'all like it!**

 **Also, I updated The In-Between Moments, so go check out the new chapter there, it's about Thea and how she dealt with losing Oliver.**

 **I also added a scene midway through chapter 6, so you may want to read that before I post chapter 8!**

 **Chapter 7:**

"Martin Somers, the CEO of Starling Port, was arrested last night for the murder of Victor Nocenti. He is also being accused of accepting cash, including over $10 million in bribes." The news anchor was saying as images of Somers being dragged off by the police were shown on TV.

"It's about time someone brought down that lowlife."

Felicity looked up from her tablet to see two of her coworkers, Janice and Dan, leaning against the counter in the breakroom. They'd been standing there, quietly gossiping for a while, but Felicity usually just ignored them. But the news report had claimed her attention and so had Janice's comment.

"I heard it was that vigilante who really took him down. Basically delivered him to the police on a silver platter, confession and all," Dan replied.

The brunette woman frowned. "No way that guy's real, he's just an urban legend. No one's actually seen him. And even if he _is_ real, he's gotta be some kind of nutcase. Who goes around shooting arrows at people anyway?" Janice scoffed. "Who does he think he is? Some kind of murderous Robin Hood?"

But Dan wasn't deterred. "Oliver Queen saw him." At this, Felicity sat up straighter. "My brother works at the SCPD, and he showed me the sketch Queen made. Apparently, the Hood saved his life, and that Merlyn kid's."

Janice rolled her eyes, and turned to Felicity. "Hey, Felicity, didn't you go to school with Queen?" she asked.

Dan turned around, looking interested now. He'd only been with the company a little over a year, and so probably hadn't heard all the gossip yet. And the fact that Felicity went to school with the former CEO's son was _definitely_ gossip that got around. "You went to school with _Oliver Queen_?" he asked incredulously.

"Uhm… yeah, I did. Only for a year though, in high school," Felicity replied reluctantly.

"What was it like?" Dan asked curiously.

Felicity shrugged as nonchalantly as she could manage. "We didn't really run in the same circles," she said. It wasn't _technically_ a lie. And Felicity Smoak was a sucker for technicalities. Kind of like Spock, she mused privately.

"So, what do you think?" Janice asked eagerly, drawing Felicity back to the present. The other woman was leaning forward slightly, an almost predatory look on her face.

"About what?"

"The Hood guy!" the brunette replied with a roll of her eyes. "Do you think he's real, or did Queen just make him up for the attention?"

Janice was a notorious gossip, so Felicity thought about what to say for a moment. "I don't know, Oliver and I aren't exactly close. But I doubt the police would be wasting their time on a figment of someone's imagination," she said diplomatically.

"Even if that someone's a billionaire like Queen?" Dan asked with a raised eyebrow.

Felicity shrugged. "With how many times he's been arrested, I doubt there's a lot of love lost between him and the SCPD. Especially considering detective Lance is…" Felicity gestured in the air vaguely. "You know."

Dan and Janice looked a little skeptical at that answer, but didn't comment and turned back to their own conversation. Felicity kept her eyes on the TV, where the reporter was speculating the involvement of 'The Hood', as the vigilante was known. Honestly, she had no doubt that he was real, but she wasn't sure what to think of him yet. Maybe a little dark web searching was in order…

/*/

Unfortunately, a crash of some of the servers at work meant that Felicity had to work late for the next two days and didn't have time for illegal web searches on homicidal vigilantes.

And considering how freaking _great_ her week was already going, of course something else had to happen.

Out of habit, Felicity kept a continuous search going for news articles about the Queen siblings, just in case. It was just to make sure they were okay, she wasn't a crazy stalker or anything! Anyway, most of the time, it was just stupid rumors, or a rehashing of an old story, so when the alarm woke her in the early hours of the morning, she expected it to be something stupid. But, just on the off chance it wasn't, Felicity groggily felt around for her glasses and grabbed her tablet.

'Thea Queen arrested for breaking and entering' was not the headline she was expecting.

Throwing a quick glance at the clock - her alarm was going to go off in an hour anyway - she got up and got ready for the day. She'd stop by the Queen mansion before work to check on Thea.

Half an hour later, she was being let in by Raisa. She bid the maid a good morning and went straight to Thea's room. Having known the teenager for 3 years, she let herself into her bedroom without knocking. Thea was laying on her bed reading a magazine, not even close to being ready for school.

"Oh, hey, Felicity, what's up?" Thea asked, a tired grin on her face.

Felicity had planned on acting like the cool older sister who disapproved but didn't take too much of a stance. But seeing the teen look so carefree snapped something inside her. "You know, I always look past the drinking, because usually you know when to stop," she said quietly.

Thea's grin melted off her face and she sat up.

"But _breaking and entering_? Thea, that's not who you are," Felicity went on.

The brunette teenager squirmed, but pretended to look like she wasn't bothered. "It was nothing, it's not like we stole anything."

Felicity felt her eyebrows shoot up. "Nothing? That's a criminal offence, Thea, you could go to jail!"

Scoffing, the teen walked over to her vanity and started brushing her hair. "Oh please, like mom would ever let something like that besmirch the family name."

Felicity frowned. She regarded Thea as the little sister she never had, but right now, she was so disappointed in her… "So you think it's right that just because you come from a wealthy family, you should get away with something like that?"

"Uhm, yeah, kind of," Thea said, trying to sound confident. But the teen wasn't looking Felicity in the eye, and that was a sure sign that she was lying.

"So if I did something stupid like that, I'd deserve to go to jail?" Felicity asked, crossing her arms.

Finally looking up - and looking a little shocked - Thea turned around on her chair. "No!"

"But that's what you're saying. Apparently you believe that because you have money, you're above me." She paused to let that sink in. "And I never would have thought you capable of such narrow thinking," she said softly.

Thea looked appropriately guilty. "I don't think I'm better than you," she muttered. "And it wasn't even my idea, my friend Lisa-"

"Lisa Cudrow?" Felicity interrupted. "You know she'd been arrested for drug possession, right?"

"She wasn't convicted," Thea protested, but it sounded half-hearted at best.

Felicity sighed. "Yes, because her father got her out of it." Thea looked so tiny, sitting on that chair, looking at her feet. Sometimes, Felicity forgot how young Thea still was. "Come here," she said quietly, stepping forward and opening her arms.

The younger girl shot up from the chair and into Felicity's embrace. "You are so much better than this, Thea. You're an intelligent, capable young woman, who doesn't let idiots like Lisa Cudrow pressure her into making stupid mistakes like that," she whispered into Thea's hair.

For a moment, the teen didn't respond. "You're right," she whispered back. "Next time, I won't get caught."

Felicity heard the joke in Thea's voice and stepped back to see the brunette giving her a wobbly smile. "Next time you'll do something more original than break into a dress store," Felicity joked. "I mean, come on, I once set off an anti-aircraft defence system and caused a school-wide evacuation."

Thea's eyes grew wide. "Seriously? When did that happen?"

"At FCA," the blonde replied. "But I'll have to tell you about that some other time, I do have to get to work and you need to go to school, you'll miss first period."

Thea looked guilty again, and Felicity glared. "When I get home from work today, I'm going to bring you some take-out from that place you like so much and you had better be prepared to give me a full account of all the boring stuff that happened at school."

Thea groaned, but turned to her closet. "Why take-out?" she asked.

"I assume you're grounded until you're thirty," Felicity replied.

The younger Queen snorted. "Mom never grounds me, I'd just sneak out again."

"Thea! Your mom is already getting you out of jail time, don't you think you owe it to her to stay away from the party scene for at least a week?"

Thea glared. "I'm not staying home. You're not my mother, you can't make me!"

God, did Felicity ever have mood swings like that? "You're right, I'm not, and I can't make you. But I do care about you, and I'm going to trust that you'll do the right thing." And with that, Felicity turned around and left the room.

Okay, so maybe emotional blackmail wasn't the most decent thing to do, but if it kept Thea inside for just a week, she'd take it as a victory. Now she just had to figure out a way to keep track of the younger brunette's whereabouts so that she didn't-

Felicity's mental train of thought was derailed as Oliver stepped around the corner and into her field of vision.

"Felicity," he said, sounding surprised. Felicity mentally smacked herself; of course he was surprised, she was in his house without him knowing.

The blonde blushed. "Oliver. Sorry, I was just… on my way to work," she managed to say, she even avoided babbling.

Oliver's lips twitched in amusement as he raised an eyebrow. "Your commute leads you through my house?"

"It's not a house, it's a castle," Felicity automatically corrected. Then she blushed. Again. "Uhm. What I meant was that I heard about Thea's… little adventure and wanted to come check on her."

Oliver just looked at her inquisitively. Felicity squirmed.

"I don't know if you remember this, but I'm an only child."

Oliver nodded. "Your dad left your mom to raise you on her own," he said softly.

Felicity started; she hadn't expected him to remember something like that. "Right… Uhm… Anyway, I sort of… adopted Thea as a little sister. I care about her, a lot, and if I can emotionally manipulate her into behaving better, you bet I'm going to do it."

As if on cue, the door to Thea's room opened and the teen stood there, wearing her school uniform. "Oh, hey, Ollie. Can you drop me off at school on your way to… wherever it is you go all day."

Felicity smiled at the teen. Maybe getting her to stick to the rules wouldn't be that hard, after all.

"I thought you were skipping school today?" Oliver asked suspiciously, though Felicity thought she could detect a hint of pride in there, too.

"I changed my mind, now are you taking me or not?" the younger Queen said defensively, crossing her arms over her chest.

Oliver held up his hands, a smile tugging at his lips. "Hey no comment here, I'll take you to school right away." Thea grinned, and then turned to Felicity and shot her a shy little smile. It was adorable, and Felicity knew that there were no hard feelings between them. Thank God.

"And I'm running late for work, so I really have to go," Felicity said, and dashed past Oliver down the hall. She collected her coat from the closet in the hallway before Raisa could drop what she was doing and help her.

It wasn't until she was halfway to QC that she realized she never asked Oliver about the Hood.

 **A/N: We're finally getting to the interesting part of the story! Next up; Oliver needs some help with a certain bullet-riddled laptop...**

 **Also, for the people who missed it; I added a scene about halfway through chapter 6, so you may want to reread that before I post the next chapter!**

 **Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: And you guys say I don't spoil you, yet here I am, already posting a new chapter ;)**

 **Seriously though, I'd written part of this in advance, and I was just inspired to write more. It's also a little longer than my usual chapters, but I doubt anyone minds, right? Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 8:**

It was late when Felicity walked home from work. It had been a long day, and all she wanted to do was curl up on her couch with a glass of wine and watch a TV show or a cheesy movie, but she still had to go to the store and buy food for her cat. Why did she even get a cat? Truthfully, it was her roommate's cat, but then that roommate had moved out and left the poor little guy, and Felicity really couldn't say no to those adorable green eyes. As she walked in the door of her apartment, she paused. Byte, was sitting right next to the door, tensed to jump. Felicity frowned and picked him up, before quietly stepping further into the apartment. As she peered into the semi-darkness, she didn't really see anything out of place.

Although… She was sure she'd closed the door of her bedroom, but it was open now. "Who's there?" she called out. No answer. Duh. She wasn't sure what she was expecting. If someone had broken in here, they wouldn't shout back.

Look, she was tired, okay, her mind thought up weird stuff when that happened.

Cautiously, she took another step and tried to peer into her bedroom. Was someone in there? "I'm calling the police!" she called out. Balancing Byte against her hip with one hand, she got her phone out of her purse with the other. She dialed 911.

"That won't be necessary," a deep voice said behind her.

Felicity shrieked, and dropped her phone, as Byte wriggled out of her hold and sprinted out the door. Turning around, Felicity saw... the vigilante? She'd expected a burglar or something, not 'The Hood', or whatever he was calling himself these days. If Dan could see this he'd be thrilled knowing he was right about the hooded vigilante being real.

The man didn't make a move, he was still as a statue, and his hands were clearly visible at his sides, so she was sure he wasn't carrying any weapons. At least, you know, not in his hands, she could clearly see his quiver and bow in the light that came from the hallway.

"I mean you no harm," he said, in a gentler voice. It was modulated, she noticed. There was a little clip-on thingy on the strap of his quiver.

"You say that, but you just spooked my cat into running out the door, and now I'm going to have to search for him for hours!" she replied snappily as she picked up her phone. Luckily, the screen wasn't cracked, but the battery had fallen out, so the call had been disconnected. Okay, so maybe being crabby wasn't the best way to handle the situation, but what was else was she supposed to do? Just because he was a killer and was capable of murdering her before she could say 'quidditch' didn't mean she couldn't be prickly with him. She was _tired_ , damn it!

The vigilante was shrouded in darkness – Felicity hadn't turned on the light – but she could see his mouth and jawline. And right now, the corner of his lips was pulled slightly upwards. The Vigilante was actually _smiling_ at her. Sort of. Felicity sighed. It had to be that kind of a night, today of all days.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, finally getting curious about that. Her fatigue was delaying her curiosity now. Great.

"I need your help," he said in a matter-of-fact tone, like it was perfectly normal for vigilantes to show up at an IT girl's house in the middle of the night and ask for help. "With what?" she asked before she could stop herself.

The man turned around and grabbed something off her counter. Exactly how long had he been in her apartment? And then her eyes fell on the thing in his hands. It was a laptop, but it was riddled with bullet holes. "What did you do to it!" she shouted, walking over without a second thought to her safety and snatching it out of his hands. "That poor computer never did anything to you, and you just went ahead and murdered it," she muttered under her breath as she examined it.

"If it makes you feel any better, I wasn't the one who shot it. I don't use guns," he said, and suddenly Felicity had the feeling that if his voice wasn't disguised, she'd recognize it somehow. It made her pause and look up at him. She couldn't see a thing under his hood, especially since she still hadn't turned on the light, but still the feeling wouldn't leave her. It was ridiculous, she didn't know anyone who was capable of what the vigilante could do. But then again, who did? This guy had to have a secret identity or something. She wondered briefly if he had a family, and if he did, did they know what he did every night?

The vigilante cocked his head, probably wondering why she was staring, so Felicity shook herself. "Exactly what is it that you want me to do with this?" she asked, turning the laptop over in her hands again.

"I need you to see if you can recover any information that might have been stored on it; bank statements, blueprints, browser history, anything."

She frowned at him. "Who did you get this from?"

He paused and searched her face. "No one you need concern yourself with," he said eventually. Felicity wasn't sure if that meant that he'd found what he was looking for or not.

"Fine, but you can't just show up in my apartment and scare my cat away every time. At least not without turning on the lights or leaving a note or something. I don't want to have a heart attack next time you come here."

Now the vigilante was actually smiling. "I'll try. When do you think you'll be ready with that?" he asked.

Felicity figured this was kind of important, but... should she be helping this guy? In theory he was doing good, he was going after really bad people – often worse people than the public actually knew. Not her, of course, because she was a hacker at heart, and she was _curious_! - but he was still a criminal. Honestly, she agreed with him, just not his methods. She didn't really think that people deserved to die for being horrible people. The rich guys he went after weren't exactly serial killers, they were just cold and ruthless and didn't care about others. Okay, perhaps not _that_ different.

She decided then that she'd help him, but just this once. There was probably not going to be a next time anyway. What else would a vigilante need an IT girl for?

"Question; why me?" she asked, honestly curious.

"What?"

"Why did you come to me? There are dozens of qualified IT people in this city, but you came to my house, why?" she asked.

Again, the vigilante paused, like he was debating whether or not to tell her something. "I knew I could trust you," he said softly.

"But why?" She was so confused.

"I just knew," he said with a shrug. That seemed so familiar to her, and again, she wondered if she'd seen him somewhere before, without the hood, of course, she'd remember seeing him with the hood on.

She studied him for a moment more before nodding. "Okay. I'll help you. I should be done in a few hours," she said.

A noise in the hallway startled her, and she glanced that way, but there was nothing there. Perhaps it was Byte. When she looked back, the vigilante was gone, probably through the open kitchen window. Felicity rolled her eyes, he certainly had a flare for the dramatic, that one.

She looked towards her open front door and sighed. Byte was a pretty smart cat, and Felicity usually let him outside onto the fire escape. She was fairly sure he'd still be able to find his way home, but it didn't stop her from worrying. She decided to put the chain on the door, but leave it open just a crack. Byte was a pretty small cat to start with, and he wasn't quite full-grown, so he might be able to fit in between the gap. Or, if not, he'd just meow pitifully until she opened the door.

After she'd done that, Felicity grabbed the damaged laptop and set to work. It's not like Byte could even get out of the building from the hallway, so she was sure he'd be back soon enough.

She saved all her important data and isolated her systems - just in case the broken laptop had some kind of nasty virus on it - and then plugged it into her own computer. It had some kind of encryption on it, so she got to work on that. As her encryption program ran, she turned on her coffee machine and retreated to her bedroom to finally get changed. Much as she loved her pencil skirts and high heels, it didn't exactly make for the most comfortable outfit.

When she walked back into her living room, she saw the vigilante sitting at her desk. Felicity cussed. "You startled me," she explained when he looked up at her.

And that's when she noticed that Byte was sitting comfortably on the Hood's lap, purring to his little heart's desire. "Traitor," she hissed to him as she took her seat next to the green guy.

She really needed to find a name for the Hood guy and stick with it.

"How is it going?" he asked quietly. It was still dark, but the light from the computer screen did light some of the vigilante's face. Once again, she was struck by the feeling of familiarity.

"Uhm…" She glanced at her screen. Her encryption program was still running, but she could probably speed it up a little. "I'll just…" she said distractedly, and started typing a line of code.

For a while, she was so focused on her work that she forgot that anyone was there, but then she reached for her coffee mug to find that it was completely filled and warm, even though she was sure she'd almost finished it a moment ago.

The vigilante had moved his chair back a little to give her space and was absently petting Byte as he stared into the darkness. If the kitten hadn't been lying on his back, batting at the vigilante's gloved hands every time he petted him, he would have looked like a comic book villain. As it was, he just looked adorable. Not a word she thought she'd ever connect with 'the Hood'...

"How's it going?" his voice shook her from her reverie, and she quickly turned back to her computer to hide her blush.

"Uhm, I'm in," she said.

The Hood leaned closer - seriously, it was such a ridiculous name - and stared at her screen. There were blueprints of a building Felicity didn't recognize. Though, to be fair, architecture wasn't a field she was very versed in.

"It's the Exchange Building," the Hood said, as if he'd heard her thoughts. God she hoped he couldn't hear her thoughts.

"Never heard of it," she replied, a little clueless. She'd only lived in Starling for 3 years now, and she really wasn't that interested in the cityscape.

"It's where the Unidac Industries auction is scheduled to take place," he said.

Unidac Industries, that name rang a bell. "That's the company Mr. Steele - my boss - is trying to buy. How'd you get a laptop belonging to one of his competitors."

"Floyd Lawton," the Hood nodded."

As she picked up her cat from his lap, she frowned at him. "No, Warren Patel," she said. "Who's Floyd Lawton?" she asked.

"An employee of Mr. Patel, evidently," the Hood said, sounding pensive.

"And what do you plan to do with this?" Felicity asked.

The Hood looked away from the screen and at her, almost like he'd forgotten she was there. Kind of like she did earlier. "You shouldn't worry about that," he said, sounding… was that guilt? Although, the modulator could just be throwing her off. "Just stay away from that building tomorrow.

"Are people going to get hurt? Shouldn't we alert the police?" Felicity asked, starting to worry. Mr. Steele and Mrs. Queen were going to be there, and Thea and Oliver had lost enough without - oh crap, what if they were going to attend?

"I'll warn the police."

"But my friends might be there, Thea and Oliver Queen. I need to warn them!" she said, half-getting up from her chair.

The Hood held up a hand to calm her down. "It's alright, I'll keep them safe. I promise."

Glaring, she pushed his hand away. "You can't promise that! That building is huge, and if someone is planning something, I need to know they'll be safe!"

The Hood stepped back. "I won't let anything happen to your friends, Ms. Smoak." And with that, he turned around and left through the kitchen window. Because apparently, vigilantes could exit through a door like normal human beings.

The moment she couldn't hear him anymore - and how the hell was he getting down anyway, her fire escape was outside her bedroom window - she pulled out her phone and called a familiar number. Damn that stupid, crazy Hood guy. If he thought she was going to leave her friends' safety up to a complete stranger, he clearly had a screw loose. Not that the choice of outfit and weapon wasn't already a clue to that…

/*/

Oliver only just managed to use an arrow to zipline down to the alley beside Felicity's building when his phone rang. He quickly turned off the modulator and picked up. "Felicity? Are you okay? You usually don't call this late," he said.

"Right, sorry, but I do have a reason," she said, sounding worried. Honestly, he was touched that she'd defy a vigilante who had killed people before, but she really needed to be more careful.

"Look, don't ask me how I know this, but something's going to happen at the auction tomorrow. Please don't go, and make sure Thea stays in, she said she probably wasn't going to go, but…"

"Hey, what's this all about?" he asked gently. He was genuinely curious if she'd actually say anything about meeting - and helping - the vigilante.

Felicity hesitated. "I can't tell you, just… be careful. Don't go," she pleaded. It reminded Oliver painfully of when they were kidnapped back in high school. He'd had a concussion and she'd been so worried about him…

"Felicity… I can't not go, my mother would kill me. But I promise to have Mr. Diggle keep his eyes peeled and I'll try to convince my mother and sister not to go."

A frustrated sigh sounded through the phone. "Oliver, please. I don't know what's going to happen, but if you die, I can't-" she cut herself off.

Oliver was curious, what had she been about to say? He knew Felicity cared about him, because she was just that good a person, but… she couldn't actually…? "I'll be careful, I promise. And I won't hang around that long anyway, I doubt it's going to be in any way interesting," he said, half-joking, half-sincere.

Another pause. "Fine," she said finally. "But if you die, I'm going to bring you back and kill you myself, you hear me?"

Oliver chuckled. "Understood. Good night, Felicity."

"Goodnight, Oliver."

 **A/N: So, what did you guys think? Things are going to get interesting from now on! More vigilante stuff, and more Olicity, especially once Felicity finds out about Oliver's little secret.**

 **Unfortunately, it might be a while before I update again, but I'll try to post the next chapter on 23 March!**

 **Anyway, please review! I really need your feedback to figure out what's going to happen next.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Well, that took a lot longer than I anticipated. I am soooo sorry! That said, thank you all so much for your support and lovely reviews, you guys are the best!**

 **Chapter 9:**

It was a good thing no one came to bother her at work the next day, because Felicity was fairly certain she would have either bit their nose off or started hyperventilating.

She'd already hacked into the Exchange Building's security and built in a back door, so she could keep an eye on it. Other than that, there was nothing she could do. According to police chatter - yes, she'd also hacked into SCPD - they were already aware that something was going to go down, so she couldn't even tip them off.

That left her sitting at her desk, feeling frustrated all day long.

Eventually, she got desperate, and hacked the guest list and put herself onto it. You know, just in case she needed to get in. Not that she was planning on actually going there and putting herself in danger or anything. What would she do anyway? She was a computer nerd, not a… not a vigilante.

Felicity groaned. Not for the first time, she wished she had a way of contacting the vigilante and ask him what the hell was going on. But she couldn't. Hence the inner monologue and frustration.

"Okay, that's it," she muttered to herself as she got up from her desk. Felicity quickly gathered up her stuff and shut down her computers. There was no way she'd get any work done today.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Felicity turned around to face Dave, her supervisor. "I'm sick. Cough, cough," she said, knowing she wasn't convincing anyone.

He raised an eyebrow. "You get off at 5, Smoak, not a minute earlier."

Narrowing her eyes, Felicity took a step closer. "Oh, really? Since I'm still on the clock, maybe we should talk about when you left work a whole 2 hours early 3 weeks ago? Or maybe we should talk about the time that you couldn't figure out what was wrong with the firewall protocols and I did your work for you? And might I remind you that it took me 2 full days and 8 hours of overwork that I never got paid for, because it was - and I quote - 'off the books'," Felicity said, putting her hands on her hips and doing her best to look menacing.

Dave paled a little. "Fine," he said, looking like he wanted to argue. "I'll cover for you. But don't think this means that you can make a habit of this!"

Felicity grinned. "After today, I'll still have another 6 hours of that unpaid overtime left, Dave, don't you worry," she said, and then dashed off.

She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she needed to do _something_.

/*/

 _Bad idea. Bad idea, very, very bad idea!_

It was a mantra she'd been repeating to herself all evening, even as she tried to keep her head down. She'd put herself on the guestlist as one of Mr. Steele's personal assistants, dressed up in her most professional getup, and was now thoroughly regretting it.

As she spotted the Queen's, she actually ducked behind a waiter. Under no circumstance could she let her boss see her. Luckily, someone was going around announcing that the auction would begin, so Felicity didn't stand out so much. Just as she was about to follow, she looked up and saw Oliver standing on the landing. He looked serious and… calculating? It was a look she'd never seen on his face again, though it tugged on her memory in a weird way.

He came down the stairs, still looking incredibly purposeful, and Felicity made her way over to the base of the stairway.

"Felicity?" he said when he saw her. He actually looked concerned. "I thought you told me not to come, why are you here?" he asked urgently.

"Well, I knew you'd ignore me, so I figured I should be here to keep you from doing anything dumb."

He gave her a flat look. "I came to protect my family, Felicity. You shouldn't be here."

She glared at him. "Thea is my friend! And, weird though you've been acting, so are you! I wasn't going to let anything happen to you!"

Oliver's eyes softened. "I know. Thank you, Felicity," he said softly. "But I need you to be safe, too, I-"

"Well, don't you scrub up nice?" Laurel's dad interrupted.

Immediately, a mask appeared on Oliver's face. He was hiding behind the 'Oliver Queen, jackass' façade again. "Just here to support my family," he said. Felicity could almost see the tension radiating off him.

"Yeah, me too, God help me," detective Lance replied.

"Thank you," Oliver said sincerely. For a moment, Felicity was confused. Had he told Detective Lance that something was going to happen?

Luckily, the detective just huffed and strode off, his eyes scanning the crowd for threats. It was odd, but something he had in common with Oliver.

Once again, something tugged at her memory, but she couldn't quite catch what it was.

Oliver sighed, before turning to her. "Could you try to find my sister? I'm going to speak with my bodyguard."

"Mr. Diggle's here?" she said, relieved. He'd keep the Queen's safe, at least.

"He is, and I've told him to keep his eyes open," he said, that soft look in his eyes again.

She nodded, and turned around to make her way through the crowd, when Oliver grabbed her wrist lightly. She turned to look at him again. "You look nice," he said, and then he was gone.

Felicity kept standing there for a moment, stunned, before shaking her head. She couldn't deal with this right now, she had to find Thea.

Unfortunately, Thea was standing with her mother.

Not that Felicity particularly disliked Moira Queen, it was just that… well, she was intimidated. The woman radiated a ruthlessness should anyone mess with her and that kind of scared Felicity. "Mrs. Queen, how nice to see you again," Felicity said timidly. Thea raised an eyebrow.

"Ms. Smoak, I wasn't aware that you would be here," Mrs. Queen said, a tad frostily.

Felicity froze, she hadn't thought of an excuse for her presence. "Oliver invited her," Thea said quickly. "He wanted to come, but he didn't want to be bored out of his mind like I'm probably going to be."

Mrs. Queen raised an eyebrow at her daughter, but Thea just looked back innocently. "You and my son seem to be getting along very well, Ms. Smoak," Mrs. Queen said, turning back to the blonde.

Felicity could feel herself getting ready to babble when a hand landed on her lower back and Oliver appeared at her side. "We're friends, mother," Oliver said, smiling indulgently. Then he waved his bodyguard over. "I'm having Mr. Diggle escort you out, I heard that there was-"

But before he could finish, gunshots interrupted him. Instinctually, Felicity ducked and grabbed hold of Oliver. He and Diggle pushed Felicity and the Queen women out to the lobby. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Oliver asked, his eyes flashing between Felicity and Thea.

"We're fine!" Thea said, though she sounded terrified. Just about how Felicity was feeling.

"Where's Walter?" Mrs. Queen asked, sounding somewhat shaky herself.

Straightening so he could see over the heads of the fleeing people, Oliver searched for his stepfather. "Walter's fine," he assured his mother. "Diggle, get them out of here!"

"Sir, I need to-" Diggle protested, but Oliver was having none of it.

"Them, Diggle!" he shouted, and then he was off.

The crowd was pulling them along, and Diggle did his best to shield all three of them with his body until he got them outside, and into the waiting arms of the cops. "Stay here, I'll go look for him!" he yelled, and dashed back into the building, despite the shouted warnings from the cops.

Felicity desperately wanted to follow him in there, but she knew that she'd be useless out there.

"Moira! Thea!" Mr. Steele shouted and ran over to them, even as they were ushered behind a perimeter.

Felicity turned around and pulled her tablet out of her purse. Normally, it would be impossible to hack the building's security remotely like this, but because of the back door she'd installed, she was in with just a few taps of her fingers. The shots had come from outside, at an angle, so the shooter was most likely in an adjacent building. She pulled up the external and rooftop cameras and searched for movement. That provided her with a glimpse of the Hood shooting an arrow at one of the other buildings and using the tether it held as a means of getting over there.

For a moment, Felicity wasn't sure if she'd seen that right, so she looked up at that building, and sure enough, the shots were now no longer directed at the Exchange Building, but at something inside, way up on what had to have been the fifteenth or sixteenth floor.

It seemed that the Hood would keep his promise after all.

/*/

Mr. Diggle and Oliver hadn't made it back by the time the cops urged us to go home. Mr. Steele tried to assure Mrs. Queen that Oliver was with his bodyguard and that they'd be fine. They eventually tracked down Detective Lance's partner, who told them that Oliver nor Mr. Diggle had been found in the building.

Somehow, Felicity made it home with the rest of the Queen family, without anyone actually commenting on her presence. Thea found that pretty funny, but she didn't want to risk her mother sending the blonde away, so she kept her mouth shut.

And then Laurel came by, which was nice, but a little awkward, though mom seemed overjoyed. It occurred to Thea that perhaps mom didn't know that Laurel and Tommy were in a pretty committed relationship, but she was so not risking her neck by informing her. She did exchange an amused look with Felicity, though.

Eventually, Walter went to bed because he had to be at QC early in the morning, which meant mom was going with him. Thea assured her that she'd stay up to wait for her wayward brother, and that she'd wake her if she heard any bad news. Which left Felicity and Thea in the living room, watching Disney movies to pass the time. Though, of course the IT nerd fell asleep halfway through Cinderella.

Not that Cinderella was such a great movie, anyway, with its dated, kind of sexist message, but Thea still loved the ballroom scene. Her inner little girl couldn't help but get excited about the dress and glass slippers.

The sound of the front door opening shook Thea from her internal monologue. She turned off the TV and went out to the hallway. "Hey stranger," she said softly. Felicity hadn't woken up from any sounds of the movie, but Thea wasn't entirely sure the blonde wouldn't be roused by human speech, so she stuck to a murmur.

Oliver looked up. He looked exhausted. "Hey Speedy, you still up?"

Shrugging, Thea leaned against the wall. "Someone had to make sure you hadn't gotten yourself killed… You look terrible, by the way."

Oliver shot her a wry look. "Yeah, well, a friend of mine's taken me to the woodshed. Tends to tire you out," he said evasively.

"Well, you have one friend here who's just been worried about you," she said, fighting a smile. Oliver frowned, clearly confused. Thea rolled her eyes. Seriously, Oliver's list of friends – _real_ friends – was pretty short, who else would still be here in the middle of the night? Aside from Tommy anyway.

She just gestured to the living room. "I'm going to bed. Glad you're still alive, brother."

"Night," he said distractedly, already stepping towards the living room.

"Good night, Ollie." Thea actually did smile now, as she ascended the stairs. Those two had it so bad for one another, and neither of them even realized. Luckily for them, Thea was pretty adept at matchmaking. This was going to be so much fun!

 **A/N: So, what do you guys think? Let me know in the reviews!**

 **Next chapter will be some fluff, and some realizations on Oliver's part.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** **I... really don't have an excuse for not updating sooner... but I'm really, really sorry.**

 **Chapter 10:**

In the end, Oliver decided that Felicity could probably use her sleep, so he carried her upstairs, to one of the guestrooms. She stirred as he carried her up the stairs, but ended up just snuggling closer to his chest. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all.

He lay her on the bed and took off her shoes, which left the somewhat uncomfortable-looking dress. He could hardly take that off her, and the thought alone made his cheeks grow warm. He'd been with a lot of women, but Felicity… she was his friend, and he didn't want to violate her trust. He briefly considered waking her up, before deciding against it; she'd probably insist on going home.

"Need help?"

Oliver turned around to see his sister leaning against the doorframe, wearing one of his old shirts. It looked worn, and the sight made him feel guilty. Thea had missed him, had needed him while he was away, and he'd stayed away. He hadn't had much choice, but still.

When he didn't answer right away, Thea rolled her eyes and walked in. She was carrying another shirt, he noticed. "Out, you idiot, I'll get her out of the dress."

Oh. Oliver suppressed another blush and made his way into the hallway, where he leaned against the wall.

He'd known Felicity for years now, but he still couldn't figure her out. She'd willingly helped a vigilante, and then defied said person's advice and come to a place she knew something bad was going to happen. She was so brave and loyal, and she had the ability to surprise him. But more than that, he could see her as a person. It was so hard for him not to look at people as targets or tools or people to be kept in the dark… Felicity… he felt like he could tell her his secret, and she'd… well, she'd probably yell at him and tell him he was being stupid to go looking for trouble like that, but she'd accept him in the end.

"You look pensive," Thea said when she exited the room. "You should go to bed before you hurt yourself."

He shot her a flat look. "Very funny. Go to bed."

Thea smiled at him in a way he couldn't quite interpret. "God, you are so far gone," she said, before sauntering off. Oliver frowned. His sister had really gotten weirder with age.

Shaking his head, he quietly walked back into the bedroom. Felicity had curled up beneath the sheets, almost like a kitten. For a moment, Oliver wondered if Byte would need to be fed, but then he figured that the cat would be fine for one night.

He gently pried her glasses off - Thea had forgotten them - and put them on the nightstand. She looked so small, laying in the queensized bed. Gingerly, he reached for a lock of hair that had fallen in her face and tucked it behind her ear.

God, he really was far gone. It had been so many years, but he had to admit, at least to himself, that he was still completely, head-over-heels in love with Felicity Smoak. And she had no idea.

/*/

Felicity woke up slowly. Her alarm hadn't gone off, so she still had a little while to just snuggle into the covers. And so was so comfortable.

After a few minutes passed without the usual buzz of her alarm, Felicity decided that she should probably check the time. But when she opened her eyes… This wasn't her room. Oh god, this wasn't her room!

She bolted upright and looked around the slightly fuzzy room. Right, glasses. She located them on the nightstand, along with her purse, which presumably had her phone.

The room was very fancy, though a little old-fashioned for her tastes. And her dress was draped over a nearby chair. Oh crap.

Right, the shooting at the Unidac auction, going to the Queen mansion - that explained the opulent room - and falling asleep watching Cinderella. But how had she ended up here? And - she noticed after she looked down - in a men's shirt. She buried her nose in the collar. It smelled like… Oliver.

Someone knocked on the door. "Felicity? Are you up?" Thea asked from the other side of the door.

Not really knowing what else to do, Felicity got up to open the door. "Morning," the brunette said with a grin. She was leaning against the door frame, wearing an old men's shirt and some shorts. "Slept well?"

Felicity blinked. "Uhm… fine I guess. How did…?"

"Oh, Ollie carried you up and I helped you change. My brother was kind enough to lend you a t-shirt." Thea was smirking slightly, and it was both a little confusing and a little creepy. But it was too early for Felicity to feel any kind of alarm; she hadn't had a coffee yet.

"Tell him thanks," she said distractedly.

"Tell him yourself, there's breakfast," Thea said, quickly grabbing Felicity's hand and dragging her out of the room.

"Wait, Thea, I need to get dressed!" Felicity protested.

Thea snorted in derision. "Mom and Walter aren't home, and only our housekeeper is here, there's no need to be embarrassed. I always eat breakfast in my PJs."

There really wasn't any arguing with Thea when she was like this, and Felicity had no energy to try, so she just let herself be dragged along to the kitchen. At least she'd get coffee there.

Of course, what Thea had neglected to tell her, was that Oliver was home. He was sitting at the kitchen counter, frowning intently at the TV. When they walked in, he looked over.

And that's when Felicity realized that she was wearing one of his shirts, and wasn't wearing shorts…

"Gotta go to the bathroom, be right back," Thea said and quickly left the room. Oh, Felicity could kill that girl!

"Morning," Oliver said.

Was it just her or was his voice lower than usual? He looked a little… startled, and was very pointedly looking at her face. Though she was fairly sure she was blushing, Felicity also felt a little proud that Oliver seemed to really have to concentrate not to stare at her legs. She totally had killer legs. "Morning. Is that coffee?" she asked, gesturing to the mug in front of him.

He glanced down. "Uhm… tea, actually, but I can get you some," he said as he got up to get her a cup.

Refusing to feel too embarrassed about her state of dress, Felicity slid onto a barstool. "Didn't take you for a tea guy," she teased gently.

He shot her a smile over his shoulder. "I'm not, usually, but the tea is calming." The machine finished making the coffee, and he put it in front of her, and made sure the milk and sugar were within reach. "But I, however, did take you for a coffee girl."

Felicity folded her hands around the mug gratefully. "Are you kidding me? I'm practically addicted." Then she frowned thoughtfully. "How did we not cover this during our favorites conversation? We talked for hours." God, they really had talked for hours, hadn't they? She felt so silly for thinking it, but it made her think of all those cheesy chick-flicks where the main characters spend the night just talking, and it's portrayed as so romantic. Mind you, not that she'd mind finding herself in a romantic setting with Oliver, but… She glanced up, and he was looking at her with a mildly amused look. Oh god, he'd said something, hadn't he? "Huh?" she said.

He grinned that crooked grin she liked so much. "I said that we had plenty of other things to talk about."

Felicity felt herself blush again, so she reached for the milk to distract herself. She had to really stretch, so perhaps it hadn't been quite as in reach as she'd originally judged. When she sat back down, Oliver was pointedly looking elsewhere, and the tips of his ears were red. Glancing down, she noticed that the shirt she'd been wearing had ridden up a little. So he had been looking. The thought made Felicity smirk. "I'll just take this upstairs and get dressed," she said quickly. She grabbed her mug and darted out the kitchen before the tension in there could rise any higher.

God, she really had it bad for him, didn't she? Nine years since the one and only time he'd kissed her, and Felicity was still very much in love with him…

/*/

It really was lucky that Felicity didn't have to work that day, or she'd have been hopelessly late, and no amount of threatening her boss would get her out of that one. As it was, Felicity just finished her coffee, put her dress from the previous evening back on, and awkwardly allowed Mrs. Queen's driver to take her home. Well, actually, he drove her to the Exchange building, where she picked up her car and then went home.

Byte was clearly angry with her, he wouldn't even let her pet him. Vaguely, she wondered if he'd let the vigilante pet him, as he'd done before. Then she shook that thought from her head and fed the angry kitten.

The vigilante… he'd come through on his promise. No one in the Queen family had gotten hurt, and the shooting had stopped, so he'd probably gotten the guy. She snorted at herself. 'Gotten the guy', what a euphemism. He'd most likely killed the guy. But then again, the perpetrator had been shooting at innocent people. Does the fact that he was a murderer excuse the vigilante's killing? And what about the other people he'd-

She was interrupted by the ringing of her cellphone.

"Hey Katie," she said when she answered.

"Don't 'hey Katie' me, I've tried to call you a million times!" Katie shouted.

Felicity held the phone away from her face, and saw that she did indeed have a bunch of missed calls. "Yeah, sorry about that, I spent the night at Thea's place and didn't have my charger on me; my phone died." She also hadn't noticed the notifications, but Felicity wasn't about to tell her friend that.

"But you're okay, right? I saw that there was a shooting at that auction, and when I heard the CEO and a bunch of people from QC would be there…"

"Okay, first off, I'm in the IT department. Usually, I don't really get invited to those kinds of things," Felicity explained. "That said, I may or may not have been there that night," she added sheepishly. "But I got out with Thea and Mrs. Queen right away, and none of us were harmed."

"People were killed, Liss, I was worried. Next time just pick up your damn phone," Katie warned, sounding genuinely concerned. Of course, that made Felicity feel like a complete jackass for letting her friend worry about her.

"I'm sorry, Katie. I promise next time I get into some kind of life threatening situation, I'll give you a call first." Part of Felicity was desperate to tell her friend about meeting the vigilante, and helping him with the laptop, if only to get some perspective. She really believed she'd done the right thing in that instance, but what if he needed her help again? What if she didn't agree with him next time?

"You better!" Katie warned. "So, any other news?"

"Uhm, not really. Life goes on, you know? I go to work, come home, feed my cat, watch some TV, work on some side projects, get shot at, go to sleep and go back to work," she joked.

"Har har. But seriously, though, no new guys or anything? And how's that Tommy character?" Katie asked, sounding a lot calmer now.

"Tommy's fine, pretending he's not getting freaked out by how serious his relationship with Laurel is getting. Thea… got arrested for breaking and entering in a store, but she wasn't charged, thank god. Other than that… nothing new really, no guys. I'm perpetually single, remember? Most guys don't deal well with babbling Felicity."

Felicity could almost hear Katie roll her eyes. "Please, if they can't see past the babble, they're crap anyways. And you skipped one important person in your lineup. How's Oliver?" Katie's voice sounded teasing, and Felicity could feel herself start to blush again.

"Uhm…"

"Oh my god! Did something happen? You guys kissed, right? I bet you guys kissed. I knew this was going to happen!" Katie practically squealed.

Groaning, Felicity sank down onto her couch. "You are terrible! No, we didn't kiss!"

"But you want to, right? You've been in love with that guy for 9 years, Liss."

"I haven't been in love with him for 9 years!" Felicity protested. "I may have had a crush on him back in high school, but… it's still just a crush!"

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. Wait, you said you'd slept over at Thea's right? That's Oliver's place, too…"

This blush was never going to go away again. "Yes… okay, fine, so something happened. But it's not... I mean, I don't… I can't really explain this," she sighed.

"Just tell me what happened, I'll help you sort through your feelings later," Katie suggested, teasing a little bit.

"Well…" And then Felicity told her best friend about the evening she'd spent just talking to Oliver, and getting to know him again, and about waking up in his shirt, and their interaction at breakfast that day.

"Girl, you are so deeply in love with that guy," Katie said softly.

Felicity groaned. "God, I know… I don't know what to do."

"What to do? You go up to him and make out with him until his brain turns to mush, that's what you do," Katie declared.

Rolling her eyes, Felicity rested her head on the back of her couch. "There's only one problem with that plan."

"Oh? I think it sounds kind of perfect."

"The problem is that Oliver very obviously doesn't feel the same. He didn't back then, and he certainly doesn't now. He's my friend. And that's enough for me. I just… I want him in my life. No matter how much of an ass he can be." Felicity sighed.

"I guess that's fair. Just ask yourself this; if you try, if you never tell him how you feel… will you regret it?"

Felicity honestly had no idea.

 **A/N: Please let me know what you think! The slow burn is finally heating up a smidge. I promise it won't be that much longer until we finally get to see some proper Olicity!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: So, it's been two months... honestly, in my head, it felt a lot longer than that. I feel like I haven't even looked at this fic in so long, and I feel awful. I do love writing this, but sometimes a scene just doesn't want to work for me, and I get stuck. I know that all I need to do is just sit down and actually start writing, and I'll get through it, but I'm a procrastinator at heart.**

 **With that in mind, some of these scenes are definitely not my best work, but I hope it was still worth the wait.**  
 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 11:**

'Got a new bodyguard'

Felicity had to smile at the text. Only Oliver could make a simple, short text message like that sound petulant.

'What happened to Mr. Diggle?'

'Artistic differences. New guy's a college football player'

Felicity laughed. 'And that's a problem, how?'

'He irks me'

'Why? Because he's an actual professional? :p '

Felicity put her phone down for a moment and tried to concentrate on her work. Tried being the operative word. She kept glancing at her phone, but refused to pick it up to see if he'd responded yet. Katie was right, she was so in love with him. But Felicity was resolved to be his friend. She could do that, right? And friends answered each other's texts right away, right?

'Dig's a pro, never had a problem w him'

'That's bc you like Diggle. Have u tried saying ur sorry?'

Oliver didn't reply right away. Felicity managed to get a little bit of work done before he replied. 'It's okay, managed to ditch him'

Rolling her eyes, Felicity typed out her reply. 'You know he's there to protect u, right?'

It took another little while for him to send a text back, but the little ellipses made it clear he had a hard time coming up with a proper response. 'Nothing he can protect me from' is what he eventually sent. It was a pretty morbid message, and Felicity was definitely not smiling anymore. Oliver usually acted like he was okay, like he was still that carefree rich boy he'd been before the island, but sometimes something like this would slip through.

No, she supposed there was nothing his new bodyguard could protect him from that was worse than what Oliver had already been through.

It took another day for him to contact her again, though this time he called.

"Hey, is this a good time?"

Having a crush really was the worst, because Felicity just couldn't keep the grin off her face. "No, it's fine, I'm just finishing up at work. What's up?" she asked cheerfully. She was still at her desk, running through the coding on their firewall, looking for weak spots. Not exactly the most exciting part of her job, so she was glad for the distraction. Especially since that distraction was Oliver Queen.

"I took your advice, went to talk to Dig. I even took Rob with me."

"Rob's the new bodyguard?" Oliver hummed in affirmation. "That's good, what did Mr. Diggle say?" she asked.

"He shot me down, but I think I managed to clear up my side of the story. Guess I'll just have to wait and see if he contacts me again."

"I'm sure he will. You can be surprisingly convincing when you want to be." Oh god, she hadn't actually said that out loud, had she? That sounded way too flirty!

But Oliver either hadn't noticed or elected to ignore it. "Speaking of conviction-"

"That's not what I said," Felicity interrupted.

"Have you heard of that guy who was convicted of killing his wife?" Oliver continued as if she hadn't said anything.

"Peter Declan? Who hasn't? He killed her in their daughter's room, it's awful."

"Could you look into that for me?"

Felicity frowned. "Look into a murder case? Why?"

"I'm curious. He doesn't strike me as a guy who would kill his wife in cold blood," he replied thoughtfully.

"Okay, weird hobby, but I guess I could. Shouldn't be too hard, the SCPD doesn't exactly have the most secure servers, and they always keep a copy of the police rapports on there," she said. Something was niggling at the back of her mind, something she should remember, but it just… wouldn't come to her. Oh well, she'd try to chase that thought later.

Just then, an office aide Felicity didn't know stuck his head in. "Ms. Smoak? Mr. Steele would like to see you."

Felicity froze. Why would Oliver's step-father want to see her? She mentally ran over every bit of coding and every program she'd been working on this past week, but couldn't remember anything amiss. Why would he want to see her? Oh god, she wasn't being fired, was she?

"Felicity?" Oliver said.

"Uhm… I'll be right up, thanks," Felicity said to the aide, who promptly left. "Oliver, I need to call you back."

"Are you okay?" he asked quickly, sounding worried.

"I don't know… Mr. Steele just asked me to his office. What if he wants to fire me?"

"He can't fire you, you're the best IT person QC has, and that's including your supervisor."

"I know, but… what if he is?"

"If he is - which is unlikely - I'll talk to him, okay. He can't fire you."

"Right… I should go," she said, but stayed rooted to her chair.

A moment of silence followed. "Felicity, just get up, and go out the door. You're not being fired. And even if you are, you could get a new job in a heartbeat. You'll be fine," he said softly.

She sighed. "Okay, fine. Bye, Oliver."

"Talk to you later, Felicity. And thanks."

/*/

Okay, so she wasn't fired, but Mr. Steele did want her to look into a business investment his wife had made… which was weird, to say the least. Seriously, what was it with people asking her to look into shady stuff today?

'Not fired! :) ' she sent to Oliver as soon as she exited Mr. Steele's office.

'Hate to say I told you so, but… I told you so ;)' was the reply she received a moment later.

She grinned as she gathered her things and headed to her car. 'Yeah, yeah. How's Rob doing?'

'Who? :)'

'Still hasn't caught up? Btw, about to drive home, so wont reply. Looking at Declan case when I get home.'

As soon as she got home, Felicity settled on her couch with her laptop, tablet and phone, finding everything she could on the Declan case, as well as possible connections with Oliver. She was curious why he'd asked her to look into it, but so far, there didn't seem to be anything connecting them. What she did find, though, was interesting. She quickly grabbed her phone and called Oliver.

"Hey, I found something interesting," she said, diving right into it.

"Hi," he said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "What is it?"

"The police report said something about a Matt Istook. Apparently, Declan claimed that his wife had given him a report detailing evidence she'd gathered against Jason Brodeur. He's the CEO of Brodeur Chemical, where Camille Declan worked. Istook claimed he didn't know anything about that," she explained.

"Huh," was all Oliver had to say.

"Okay, confession time," Felicity said. "I've been trying to find a connection, a reason why you'd be interested in this case, but there's nothing. And when I can't find something, it usually means it doesn't exist," she said, talking fast. "So why the interest? What is it about this case?"

Oliver didn't reply right away, and Felicity sat as quietly as she could, straining to hear anything.

"I saw him on the news, and… he just didn't strike me as someone who could kill his wife. And he never confessed, never admitted to anything. I guess I just wanted to know the truth," he said. There was something in his voice, something she couldn't quite identify.

"Well… If this Istook guy lied, Brodeur would definitely have a motive to get rid of Mrs. Declan… And from what I could find on the guy online, he's not exactly a gentle puppy. Not that it helps us to know this, since the police already knew."

Oliver sighed. "Well, thanks anyway, Felicity. I know it was a weird request."

She blushed and thanked any possible gods out there that he could see her, whilst simultaneously mentally smacking herself for being so silly. "Uhm, yeah, it was no problem. Like I said, the SCPD servers aren't exactly a challenge, so it was no big deal."

"I'll talk to you later, okay?"

And now she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that he didn't want to talk about anything else. "Right, okay. Night, Oliver."

"Goodnight, Felicity."

/*/

"What is wrong with your face?"

Oliver stood in the entrance hall of the manor, having just hung up the phone after Felicity called. He looked up at his sister, tensing. He hadn't done much in the way of vigilante business today, so it couldn't be that. "What do you mean?"

"There's something really weird on it, like this thing with your mouth…" And then Oliver figured out she was teasing him and allowed himself to smile again. "It looks like it's in the shape of a smile," Thea finished, now grinning herself.

"That's cute," he said.

"So why are you grinning, who was on the phone?" she asked.

Oliver glanced down at his hand, where he still held his phone. He wasn't sure what had possessed him to ask Felicity for help - he did not want her entangled in this, like he'd done with the Deadshot case. But he enjoyed spending time with her, and this gave him an excuse to call her. He recalled her 'confession', and had to smile again. It was such a Felicity thing to do. "Felicity," he told Thea.

But in any case, he wouldn't need Felicity's help on this case anymore. He'd get the file from Istook and give it to Laurel.

His little sister raised an eyebrow. "And here I thought you two were 'just friends'," she said, complete with air quotes. "As you have both repeatedly told me."

"Can't I enjoy spending time with her without there being an ulterior motive?" he asked, perhaps a smidge defensive. This thing with Felicity - whatever it was - was new and he wasn't sure what he was going to do about it. He was so used to playing things close to the vest, it was odd trying to open up to his sister. But maybe this was exactly what he needed to reconnect with her.

"Well, sure," Thea said. "But I know you enjoy my company as well, most of the time, and I don't see you grinning like a loon every time I say something witty," she countered.

He rolled his eyes. "I… I'm not sure what it is, but for now we're friends, okay?" he said, hoping his sister would see that he needed time and leave it alone.

"Alright, I'll stop prodding," she relented, turning around to head up the stairs. "But for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure she likes you too."

This time, Oliver really didn't care that he was grinning like an idiot.

/*/

The next time Felicity heard something about the Declan case was right after she'd handed over the evidence she'd collected on Mr. Steele's missing money. She'd just gotten back into her office to collect her things when she received an alert on her phone. She'd set it up so that if anything to do with Peter Declan or Jason Brodeur popped up, she'd be notified.

The broadcast she saw didn't have any direct correlation to Peter Declan's case, but it was obvious why it came up. Laurel Lance was apparently Declan's attorney now, and she'd been in a meeting with her client when a bunch of inmates got loose and wreaked havoc.

What were the chances of Oliver asking her to look into Declan's case a day or so before Laurel apparently decided to become the lawyer of a man on death row?

Felicity sat down at her desk and decided to cast a deeper search. And that's when she found that only about two hours after she'd told Oliver about Matt Istook, the guy filed a police report against 'The Hood'.

The first thing Felicity registered was hurt. If Oliver was working with the Hood, why didn't he tell her?

But, then again, she'd helped the Hood as well, and she hadn't told anyone about that either. Or maybe Laurel was working with him and she'd asked Oliver to get Felicity on the case. But if that were true, then why hadn't the Hood just come to her again?

Groaning, Felicity sat back in her chair. Okay, eliminate the impossible, and whatever was left had to be true right? Right, because using a Sherlock Holmes quote was really appropriate in this situation. But the point remained that it just didn't make any sense for either of them to be working with the Hood. Or, at least, not in relation to Felicity's involvement in the case.

God, this was making her head hurt.

At least the report said Laurel was okay and that the riot was quickly contained. A new notification popped up on her phone, this time from her bug in the police servers. Brodeur's bodyguard had been found at the prison and had agreed to flip his boss in exchange for a lesser punishment. This made Felicity doubly suspicious.

It was all just so strange, and Felicity felt like she was missing a single puzzle piece. Once she had that, she was sure she'd be able to make sense of it all, but for now, it just didn't fit.

On instinct, she called Oliver, but it went straight to voicemail. She left a message saying she'd seen the news and to call her back.

Something wasn't right, and Felicity swore she was going to get to the bottom of this.

The next morning, she got the puzzle piece she'd been looking for, but it wasn't nearly as satisfying as she'd hoped it would be.

Thea's name flashed on Felicity's phone, so she picked up quickly.

"Felicity," the girl said, her voice thick with tears and hysteria not far behind. "Oliver's been arrested. They think he's the vigilante."

 **A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuuuuun! And now we can finally get started on the real stuff. Felicity is piecing things together, and team Arrow can finally assemble! I'll try not to keep you guys waiting so long this time, but messages and reviews definitely help in that regard *wink, wink, nudge, nudge***

 **Let me know what you think! (on any subject, though this chapter would be the preferred topic)**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: *Gasp* An update? Already? I know, right? I was inspired and wrote it right after I posted the last chapter. The only reason it took me this long is because I wanted everyone to have a chance to read the last chapter before posting this one (and I may have gotten a little distracted in the meantime).**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 12:**

Oliver Queen had been arrested on suspicion of being the vigilante, along with a whole other list of related crimes.

When Felicity had heard the news from Thea, she'd rushed over to the Queen mansion, finding the distraught teenager there alone with a housekeeper. Mr. Steele and Mrs. Queen were at the police station trying to get Oliver released.

While she and Thea sat silently on the couch, waiting for news, Felicity didn't know what to think. Given everything that had happened with the Peter Declan case, it made sense that Oliver could be the Hood. But on the other… Where would he have had time to become a master archer? Because he sure as hell wasn't before the boat went down, and Felicity didn't think there were many archery classes on an uninhabited island. And why would Oliver become the Hood after only just returning to his family? She'd seen him, she knew how much he wanted to connect to them, and how hard it was for him to adjust. Why would he go around killing random rich guys?

Though, as she thought about it, Felicity realized they weren't all that random. They were only the worst of the worst. People with no conscience, who had killed or caused the deaths of dozens of innocent people. So how did the Oliver, or the Hood, know which ones to target?

Oliver had been arrested in the middle of the day, and it was early evening when he arrived back at the mansion. Thea jumped up as soon as she heard the door open. Through the door opening, Felicity saw her hugging her brother as their parents watched. "He made bail, but he'll have to wear an ankle monitor," Mrs. Queen explained.

"If you'll sit down somewhere, sir, I need to put the monitor on," the accompanying officer said.

When she saw them all turn towards the sitting room, Felicity jumped up and went through the door leading to the dining room. She wasn't sure why, but she wasn't ready for Oliver to see her yet. Or for herself to look at Oliver and see the vigilante.

She still heard everything, though. Tommy had apparently come in with them, though Felicity hadn't seen him, and was currently trying to talk Oliver out of throwing a prison themed party at the house. Thea just kept quiet, which was a testament to how shocked she was. Eventually, Mrs. Queen consented to the party and left with Mr. Steele.

Felicity came back into the room.

At first, Oliver didn't notice her, busy as he was studying Thea's face. So when the younger Queen noticed her, Oliver turned around as well. "Uhm, I think Thea needs some hot chocolate, right?" Tommy said, putting his arm around the brunette's shoulders and leading out of the room. That left Felicity standing in the doorway, and Oliver sitting on the couch.

"I know you wouldn't lie to me, not about this," Felicity said, her voice quiet in the large room. Still, it was so silent, he probably heard her just fine. "Are you him? Are you the vigilante?"

For a few too-long moments, Oliver just stared at her, like he was trying to memorize her face. Maybe he thought this was the last time he'd be able to look at her without her being angry with him? Honestly, she wasn't sure what she'd feel if he said yes. Or if he said no.

"I wouldn't lie to you," he agreed, looking down at his hands. "I promise you that, I won't ever lie to you. But I'm not who they think I am."

Felicity frowned, and took a minute step forward. "That's not an answer."

It took another few seconds, but eventually, he looked back up at her. For the first time since she'd known him, he looked small. He didn't look as confident as he usually did. In that moment, it was hard for her to reconcile this person in front of her with the man who'd broken into her apartment to ask for her help. "Yes," he whispered, so quietly, she wasn't qure if she'd heard right.

Felicity nodded numbly.

"Are you angry?" he asked. He tried to look blank, but she'd always been so good at seeing what he really felt in his eyes. He was worried.

"I don't know," she replied, just as quietly. Slowly, she stepped forwards to sit down next to him. "I'd be a bit of hypocrite if I was. I mean, I helped the vigilante, I didn't report him." She couldn't quite talk about the Hood and say 'you' just yet.

"Why did you?" he asked curiously.

Felicity thought for a few moments, collecting her thoughts. "I guess… I'd done some research into everyone the Hood targeted, and… they were all terrible people. Worse, often, than people realize. I didn't agree with his methods, but… Those men needed to be stopped, and the police aren't equipped to handle it. I wanted to help because… I wanted to help people, innocent people," she explained haltingly. Then, she looked up into his eyes, his familiar, gorgeous blue eyes. She shrugged. "And there was something oddly familiar about the guy, you know? I kept thinking that if his voice hadn't been masked I'd recognize it. Of course now I feel like an idiot for not realizing, especially after looking into Declan's case," she said, offering a small smile.

He smiled back warmly and put a hand over hers. "Thank you, Felicity."

And then, she finally knew how she felt. It was a lot to take in, of course, and Oliver would somehow have to get out of these charges against him, but she was sure that he could do it. With some help, if need be. She felt relieved to finally know. And glad that he wouldn't lie to her, like he was lying to everyone else.

She wasn't sure what was going to happen after this, but for now, she'd stand by her friend, and do whatever she could to help him.

"I need to show you something," Oliver said, standing up and offering his hand.

It probably had something to do with the vigilante business, but she still had to fight a blush when she put her hand in his and followed him to his room.

He pulled a small brown book out of a hidden compartment and handed it over. I looked like it had been through hell, but the names inside were still legible. "I was wondering how you knew which douchebags to target," she muttered as she leafed through it.

"My father didn't die on the boat," he said suddenly.

Felicity looked up, shocked. "What?"

"He made it to a raft with me and another crewmate," he said, avoiding her eyes. "There wasn't enough food or water for the three of us, so my father pulled out a gun and shot the crewmate. He then told me he wasn't the man I thought he was, and that he'd failed our city… He told me to survive and then put a bullet through his head."

Felicity gasped. "Oh my god. Oliver, I'm so sorry."

Something about his expression told Felicity that maybe seeing his father kill himself hadn't been the worst thing that had happened to him.

"The book was his, written in invisible ink. I kept it with me, knowing that one day, I'd return here to right his wrongs."

She wanted to tell him that it wasn't his job to correct his father's mistakes, but perhaps he needed this. So she just nodded. "Who else know? That you're…" she trailed off.

"You. And Diggle, though he doesn't know about my father," he replied readily.

"You told your bodyguard?"

Oliver started pacing. He looked like a caged tiger, ready to strike. How the hell hadn't she seen that before?

"I need an ally in this, Felicity. I can't do it by myself, and I need someone who can take care of themselves."

She wanted to argue that she could be his ally, but if someone came after her, she'd be useless, so she kept her mouth shut. "Speaking of which, can I use your phone to send him a message? They took mine."

Felicity blinked at the request, but handed it over. Oliver had already memorized his bodyguard's phone number? "I thought you said he'd turned you down? I'm assuming you were talking about this?"

Oliver glanced up, a small smile on his lips. "He did. He saw my side of the story and came onboard today."

Well. At least they weren't alone in this.

/*/

Felicity didn't stay for Oliver's meeting with Mr. Diggle.

She did, however, show up for the party. Normally, she would have properly dressed up - she loved costume parties - but knowing the kind of people Oliver was bound to have invited, she'd decided to go for a more casual look of overalls with the number '24601' on the shirt she wore underneath. Not that anyone would get the reference, but still.

Thea - in an appropriately tight orange dress meant to emulate a prison uniform - told her Oliver was in his room getting ready, so she headed straight there.

When she entered - without knocking, because she was an idiot - Oliver just about to put on a shirt, giving Felicity an unimpeded view of his chest. Normally, she would have blushed and salivated over his abs, but she just stared. There were scars everywhere, not to mention two tattoos that she could see.

"Felicity," Oliver said, and quickly pulled the shirt on. Before he could button up, though, she stepped closer and halted his hands. She kept her eyes on his chest, tracing the lines marring his skin. When she followed the one that looked like something took a huge bit out of him, he stiffened a little. She suddenly realized that that one covered his whole hip, including underneath his pants.

She abruptly stepped back, her face flushing. "I- I'm sorry, I didn't… I mean I knew you had scars, but…" she trailed off. Oliver didn't say anything as he buttoned the shirt back up. "I shouldn't have done that," she muttered.

"It's okay," he said quietly.

"No, it's not. You must feel like a zoo animal or something with me gawking like that," she said.

The corner of Oliver's lip quirked upwards. "Gawking, huh? See something you like?" he teased lightly.

She had already been blushing, but with his comment, it went up another notch. Felicity decided to take a breath and handle this like an adult instead of a schoolgirl with a crush. "Yes, actually. You," she said, and she could tell that Oliver was taken aback. "I care about you, Oliver, and I can't even imagine…" she trailed off, looking at his chest again, even though it was now covered by the shirt. After a moment, she looked back up. "But I couldn't help notice that some of those scars are really straight. Like they were made with a knife or something."

Something hardened in his eyes, and Felicity knew he didn't want to talk about this. "I wasn't entirely honest when I said I was on that island alone." A lie, yes, but not one he'd actually ever said to her face, she'd just assumed it. So, he hadn't broken his promise not to lie to her. "There were men there, and they tortured me."

Once again, Felicity was left speechless. She had been unable to imagine the hell he'd gone through before, but with this new information… Just how much had he had to live through?

"I don't… I can't talk about it. One day, I'll tell you everything, I promise. Just… not for a while yet."

She nodded. "That's all I ask."

/*/

Knowing Oliver was the vigilante and knowing it, were not the same thing.

After mingling for about Fifteen minutes, Felicity grew uncomfortable around all the drunk idiots Oliver and Tommy had invited. She'd hung out with the latter for a while, kept an eye on Thea to make sure she wasn't drinking too much, and eventually had retreated to Oliver's room to read. She'd brought her tablet - naturally - and was reading a book on it.

Oliver and Laurel had come in late in the evening to talk some legal stuff, but they'd paid her no mind. Or hadn't noticed her, that was possible, too. She was, after all, kind of hidden in a back corner, where the noise from downstairs bothered her the least.

After Laurel left with a promise that she'd get Oliver off these charges, Felicity sat up.

"How long have you been sitting there?" Oliver asked, turning around. He didn't look surprised, which made Felicity think that maybe he'd noticed her anyway.

"Uhm. An hour maybe?" she replied, getting up and stuffing her tablet in her purse.

He grinned at her. He was doing that a lot more, lately. "How's the book?"

"Awful. I think everyone's going to die, and I only have two chapters left to read," she replied with an equally broad grin.

Oliver snorted. "I'm sure you'll find a way to survive."

Felicity sat down. She froze for a second when she realized she'd sat down on Oliver's bed, but then shook it off. There was no need to be embarrassed, it was only a piece of furniture. "Any word from Mr. Diggle?"

As he opened his mouth to reply, his phone went off. Oliver checked the caller id. "Speak of the devil," he muttered, before picking up. He listened to the reply, before nodding to Felicity. So Mr. Diggle had succeeded in his mission.

There was a knock at the door.

"Yeah?" Oliver called.

"Mr. Queen, if you're entertaining guests upstairs, should I have some drinks sent up?" the man at the other side of the door asked. One of the waiters.

Oliver glanced at Felicity, but she shook her head, indicating that she was okay. "No, I'll be right down," he said, getting up.

Felicity beat him to the door, but froze at the sight of a gun pointed straight at her. Oliver reacted more quickly. He shoved her aside, into the wall and engaged the armed man. Felicity was a bit dazed from the push, but quickly jumped aside when the fighting registered. Oliver was… she couldn't even describe it. He moved so quickly, countering every strike aimed at him. It didn't even matter that the other guy was armed.

Oliver shoved the man over the couch, rolling with him and smashing the coffee table, before performing a move that seemed more fitting for a kung fu movie or something. The guy had managed to climb to his feet at the same time as Oliver, but the latter backhanded him. But then the man had somehow found his gun and was aiming it at Oliver. At the sound of gunshots, Felicity closed her eyes and screamed.

"Felicity!" Oliver whispered, his hands on her shoulders. She looked up to see that he was unharmed, and instantly flung herself into his arms. "You're okay, you're fine," he whispered into her hair.

"Might want to revise that statement," detective Lance said.

As Felicity let Oliver go, she finally noticed a sting in her arm. Oliver was looking at it intently. "Just grazed you," he muttered, but there was something in his eyes that screamed 'furious'.

She cupped his cheek, forcing him to look her in the eye. "Hey. I'm okay. It barely hurts." That last bit was a lie. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off and she could focus on the wound, it really hurt.

"I'll send for a medic," Lance said, and stepped out of the room.

Oliver helped Felicity up and led her to the bed. He grabbed one of his clean shirts and pressed it over the wound. "Keep pressure on that, I'll go send everyone home," he said gently, tucking a stray lock behind her ear. Felicity nodded numbly.

Almost as soon as he left, Thea and Tommy barged into the room, followed closely by Laurel. "I saw my dad," she said. "What happened?"

Thea, seeing the blood, blanched and rushed to sit beside Felicity, peeking under the shirt, before pushing the blonde's hand away and keeping pressure herself.

"Someone tried to kill Oliver," she said numbly. "I got shot."

"You what?" Tommy exclaimed, coming to crouch in front of her. "Are you okay?" he asked, peering at the shirt that was slowly getting soaked.

"It's fine, it's just a graze."

"That hardly makes it fine," Oliver said as he strode back into the room. Thea quickly made room for her brother on the bed, moving to stand by Laurel. The older Queen sibling was carrying a first aid kit, and Felicity vaguely wondered where he'd learned to administer it, but dismissed the thought. With the stupid things he and Tommy used to get into, she supposed it was a skill he'd had to pick up.

"I'll got talk to my dad, sort this out," Laurel said. "I'm glad you're okay," she added, looking at Felicity, before making her way out of the room.

"As am I, but I should go make sure those two don't start a screaming match in your living room," Tommy said, standing up. "You hang in there, Smoaky," he said, giving her knee a squeeze.

Oliver didn't say anything, choosing to focus on binding her wound. "It should heal fine, I don't think you'll have a scar."

"You can trust him on that, he's the expert on scars," Thea said, finally regaining some of her wry humor.

"Oh, I know," Felicity replied, thinking of what she'd seen on his torso earlier that evening.

But, of course she hadn't thought that sentence through, until Thea raised a suggestive eyebrow. "Seen my brother without clothes, lately?" she asked teasingly.

Well, actually yes. But Thea didn't need to know that, she'd just draw the wrong conclusions. "Not like that, Speedy," Oliver replied in her place. "We're just friends."

Ouch.

Despite having said the exact same thing a hundred times before, it hurt coming from Oliver's lips. It was so silly to let a stupid thing like that get to her, but she couldn't help herself. But she also knew that she couldn't really show that to her present company.

Luckily, Thea seemed to have grown bored of the conversation and got up. "I'll go get some ice for your hand," she said, gesturing to Oliver's reddened knuckles.

"Actually, Felicity and I'll join you downstairs. No need to have everyone trooping into my bedroom every time they want to see if we're alright," Oliver said, getting up slowly.

Thea nodded and headed outside, and Felicity got up to do the same, but Oliver stopped her. "Felicity."

"Yes?" she said quietly.

"I'm… very glad you're okay," he said, matching her volume.

She smiled softly. "Well, I had a pretty awesome protector," she said. For a moment, they just looked at each other, and Felicity could have sworn that there was a connection between them. And then she realized that she was just staring into Oliver's eyes like a lovesick puppy, and took a step back. "Seriously though, can you teach me that move you did to swipe that guy's legs out from under him? I'd totally love to be able to do that," she joked.

Oliver grinned. "How about I teach you how to throw a punch first, huh?"

Felicity moved towards the door, knowing he would follow. "Hey, I can totally punch someone! Not that I've ever done it before, but if some creep came up to me, I'd definitely at least smack him. Does that count as hitting someone? Because I've done that before…"

Oliver laughed, and it sounded as genuine as any laugh she'd heard from him lately. Yeah, they'd be okay, vigilantism and all.

 **A/N: Longer chapter than usual (a little over 3k words), I hope no one minds ;)**

 **Please let me know what you think about it, and see you next time!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

In the end, Detective Lance had been forced to let Oliver go, on account of 'The Hood' having been seen on the other side of town, while the party had been going on.

Felicity desperately wanted to stay longer, but she had to go to work, and she needed to stop by her apartment to feed Byte. It weird, to say the least, to be doing something as routine as feeding her cat getting ready for work. Her world had been turned upside down and here she was, doing stuff she did every day.

But in the next few days, she really didn't have much time to linger on it. She went to work, fed her cat, worked on some projects she'd shelved, weathered interesting phone calls from both Katie and her mother…

What she didn't get to do was speak to Oliver again.

He was busy keeping up his image and she had work. She did, however, get to see Thea during lunch.

"It's weird," the brunette said about 3 days after Oliver's party. "He just seems… I don't know, lighter, somehow." Thea took a sip of her frappucino. "Any idea why that is?" she asked, a tad too innocently.

Felicity had to hide a grimace. Of all the people in Oliver's life, she was pretty sure Thea would be the most understanding of his secret. She'd probably just proclaim it to be awesome and ask to see his secret lair. Not that even Felicity had been allowed to see that, but whatever. It was just hard to keep a thing like that from her.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I haven't seen Oliver since the party," she replied, focussing on her pasta salad.

They were sitting in a little breakfast/lunch place close to QC, so Felicity wouldn't have to take too long a lunch break. Thea had insisted on paying, so Felicity had done her best to keep the price of her order down. Not that the teen couldn't afford it, but it was the principle that counted.

Strangely, Thea looked disappointed by that answer. "Not what you were expecting to hear?" Felicity asked.

"It's just…" Thea hesitated. "He's been sneaking off a lot, and I guess I was just hoping…"

For a second, Felicity had no idea what her young friend was hinting at, but then it hit her. "That he was spending time with me?" she asked incredulously. "No, not at all! Me and Oliver, no! I mean, we're friends, of course, but not… that kind of friends," she rambled.

Thea sighed. "I guess I was just hoping he'd found someone to talk to. None of us know what he's been through… I mean, he even told Detective Lance that he'd been tortured on that island. Laurel told me. He wasn't alone, and he was…" She let out a shaky breath. "Sometimes I wonder if it's Ollie who came back from that island or someone else. And then I feel guilty because of course something like that changed him. But all I want is for the Ollie who took me all the way to Gotham to get away from our arguing parents to come back."

Felicity looked down at her hands. No, Thea had no idea what Oliver had gone through, no one did. But at least Felicity knew that the Oliver who would go to the ends of the world for his friends and family was still in there. It's just that he now only came out at night, when he donned that hood of his. "Thea, you know he loves you, right?"

"He has a great way of showing me. All he does is judge me for stuff that isn't even half as bad as the things he used to do," Thea muttered, cupping her frappucino in her hands.

"Did it ever occur to you that Oliver lost you too?"

"Huh?"

"When Oliver landed on that island, he had no way of coming home, no way of contacting you. And then, when he finally does make it here, he find this nearly grown woman instead of his baby sister. He doesn't know you, so when things aren't going the way he expects them to, he defaults back to treating you like he did 5 years ago."

Biting her lip in thought, Thea started drawing patterns in the condensation on her cup.

"You've changed, same as him, but neither of you have had a chance to get used to each other. I mean, I remember you back then, you were obsessed with horses and you wished Justin Timberlake would just see sense and ask you out already," Felicity joked.

Thea grew bright red. "I never said that!" she protested.

Felicity just raised an eyebrow. "My point is that you both have to be patient. You've both gone through things the other couldn't possibly understand. And apparently, he doesn't want you making the stupid decisions he made when he was younger."

Thea looked up, looking mildly angry. "You're saying I'm stupid now?"

"What?" Felicity said. "No, that's not what I said. I said Oliver was stupid, and he doesn't want you to do what he did."

Thea kept frowning, but at least she didn't start shouting. "Everyone is always on my case about that. Sometimes I just need to unwind and have fun, what's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong is that the way in which you choose to unwind is not legal, nor is it very healthy," Felicity countered.

"Yeah, well, in most European countries, the legal drinking age is 16."

"But it isn't here. And in most European countries, the legal driving age is 18, so they can ensure that dumb teens don't drink and drive."

"God, sometimes you're such a killjoy. You're not my mom!" Thea said, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. She looked like a petulant child.

"No, I'm not, but I am someone who cares about you. What do you think I'd do if you got drunk and then wrapped your car around a tree? This has nothing to do with your age. If Katie was acting the same way, I'd be saying the same things."

Thea kept up her act, but her lack of arguments told her that maybe she was getting through to her friend.

"But back to the topic at hand," Felicity said, taking a sip from her ice tea. "I'm glad Oliver's doing better. And if you ever need to talk, about him or about school, or anything else, I'm here, okay?"

Across the table, Thea nodded without looking up or letting up her frown. She was damn stubborn when she wanted to be.

/*/

The next time she saw a member of the Queen family was at work, which was - ironically enough - the place she usually saw the least of the Queen family. You know, ironic, because it's Queen Consolidated? Right? Anyway…

It was a day after her lunch with Thea, and Felicity was chewing on the end of her pen as she tried to figure out if she'd made an error in her coding.

A light knock alerted her that someone was at her door. So of course when she looked up, Oliver was standing there. "Can I come in?" he asked. He looked… lighter, just like Thea had said. There was even a contented smile playing around his lips. And yet, there was something in his eyes that told her that he was also a little uneasy about something.

"Of course. What's wrong?"

He opened his mouth - probably to protest - before closing it and sighing. "It's unfair how well you can read people," he said instead.

"Not people," she corrected. "Just you." And then she realized how that sounded. "And by you I mean 'you people', as in your family. You know, because I spend a lot of time with you. Well, with you and Thea, I don't think my heart could take it if I had to spend a whole lot more time with Mrs. Queen. Not that she isn't lovely! I'm sure that she's a perfectly nice lady! She's just intimidating, you know. And I'll shut up now." Felicity bit her lip as she mentally slammed her head into a wall repeatedly. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

But Oliver was once again not fazed by her babbling and oversharing. He just smiled at her. "You think my mom' intimidating?"

She raised her eyebrows in a clear 'duh'.

Oliver shrugged. "I guess it's hard for me to be intimidated when she's my mom, and I distinctly remember a 3 year old Thea throwing up on mom's favorite suede shoes."

A very unladylike snort escaped before Felicity could stop herself. "I'm sorry, that's just… I'm never going to be able to talk to your mom without having that visual in my head."

"See, not that intimidating anymore, right?" he said, full-on grinning now.

She looked at him. God, she was so far gone. She really wanted to kiss him, but she knew that it wasn't the right time, even though things between them were… better. "So, what's going on?" she asked softly.

The grin faded. "Had an argument with Diggle."

"What about?"

He sighed. "I'm sure you've heard about that string of bank robberies?"

"Yeah, they call themselves the Royal Flush Gang. Talk about original. They hit a few banks banks in every city and then move on."

"They've robbed one bank in Starling already, and shot an off duty cop."

Felicity frowned. "I hadn't heard that. That's the first time they've actually seriously harmed anyone, right?"

Oliver nodded. "Diggle wants me to take them out. I want to focus on Scott Morgan."

"Ugh, I know about him. He's a piece of work," she said, disgusted. "Okay, I get your dilemma."

"I want to honor my father by going to the root of the problem. These street crimes are just a symptom," he explained.

"Well, sure, but that doesn't mean they're any less important than the big crimes. Why can't you do both? Near as I can remember Scott Morgan is a bigger problem in winter. It's not that cold outside yet, you have time to deal with him."

Oliver grimaced. "That's what Diggle said."

"Maybe he's right. You took him on to be your partner, right? So act like it. Take his suggestion. I'm sure this gang is a lot more important to that cop's wife than a guy who shuts off people's utilities," she reasoned.

Oliver leaned back. "Why do you have to be so logical?"

"Oh poor Oliver, can't sit back and brood now, can you?" she teased.

He smiled. A true smile, teeth and all. Even if it was just for a second, the sight made Felicity's heart skip a beat. "Thank you, Felicity," he said sincerely.

"Just keep it in mind. And you're welcome," she replied softly. "Now shoo, I do actually have a job I need to get back to!"

Oliver grinned. "I'm pretty sure having my name on the side of the building means that I can take as much of your time as I want," he teased.

"Maybe, but it's not my name on the side of the building, which means that I'll still have to do all my work, just in less time now," she countered without any heat. In truth, this was nice; him just coming to her office to talk. And him opening up about stuff that bothered him was a huge step forward.

"Okay, true, I'm sorry. Can I make it up to you with lunch? Tomorrow?"

That stopped her in her tracks. Was he asking her out? No, lunch isn't a date, dinner is a date. Unless lunch is at some fancy place. Which Felicity wasn't sure she was mentally prepared for. "Uhm."

"Just something casual. Thea tells me you take her out for lunch sometimes," he assured her.

"Oh, well, uhm. Sure. My break starts at 12:30."

He smiled. "Then I'll see you at 12:30 tomorrow."

/*/

Oliver did call.

Well, sort of. A blocked number called her right as she was about to get into her car to go home. His voice was distorted, but she recognised it from the last time the Hood had been in her apartment. He asked her to come to the old Queen steel factory.

Which was super creepy when it was dark. "Hello?" she called out gingerly. God, she hoped that an axe-murdered wasn't about to jump out and kill her.

The scuffing of a boot behind her alerted her to someone's presence, so she whirled around, her hand on the mace in her purse.

"Jesus, Oliver!" she hissed. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry," he said, not sounding remotely remorseful. He was wearing his Hood costume, but with said hood down. There was grease paint over his eyes.

"You look… weird."

He frowned at her. "You've seen me like this before."

"Yeah, but not without the hood. It's kind of disorienting. Why are we here?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Follow me," he said shortly, and led her to a hallway in the back, where he revealed an honest to goodness hidden door with a keypad next to it. He punched in the code and led her down to a badly lit basement, of sorts.

"Oh my God. This is your lair?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Oliver shot her a half-amused, half-exasperated look, before turning back around and heading towards the computers set up a little further in.

Mr. Diggle was standing stoically next to them.

"Hi!" she said, offering a little wave.

Diggle couldn't quite suppress a smile. "Good to see you again Ms. Smoak."

"Please, it's Felicity," she said, holding out her hand for him to shake. "So what can I do? I mean, I assume you didn't bring me here to sightsee?" she asked, even as her eyes were drawn to the display of green-tipped arrows to her right.

"We're looking into some bank robberies-" Diggle started.

"Oh, you decided to do it?" Felicity interrupted, looking at Oliver. "That's great!" she said, moving towards the computers. She made a face. "Remind me to give you an update, this setup sucks."

She sat down in the chair and pulled up all the research the two men had been doing. Which was mainly just looking at the security footage.

"One of the men's wearing a class ring, we thought that might be a lead," Oliver said, putting his hand on the back of her chair and leaning in."

"Yeah, probably not, this footage isn't clear enough to get a proper look at it. I mean, I can clean it up, but there's only so much you can do when the camera just didn't pick up that many pixels," she said, knowing where he was heading with this. She played part of the footage again, trying to see if she spotted something the men had missed.

"The bank manager," Oliver said.

"What about him?" Diggle asked.

"Ace hit him, that kind of impact would have left a mark. It'll be in evidence at the police station," Oliver said, straightening up.

"Please tell me you're not going where I think you're going?" Diggle said.

Felicity looked up. "What? Where is he going?" Then it hit her. "Wait, all you need is a photograph, right?"

Oliver hesitated a few steps away from her. "Yeah, no problem," Felicity said, turning back to the computer and opening up the wireless database for the SCPD. A quick search showed the evidence pictures taken of the manager's cheekbone. "Ouch, that looks nasty," Felicity said, wincing in sympathy.

Oliver strode back over, looking intently at the screen as Felicity scanned the injury for a pattern and quickly found that it belonged to, "Larchmont high," Oliver said.

"You're welcome," Felicity said, maybe a tiny bit smugly.

Oliver looked down at her, barely suppressing a grin. "Thank you."

"Anything that saved you from having to break into the police station," she replied. "But as much as I'd love to sort through old high school yearbooks, I do have a cat to feed, and sleep to get. I can set up a remote search and then text you if it turns up anything. I should have something for you in the morning," she said, grabbed her purse, and headed back to the door.

"Man, Oliver, you should have brought her in ages ago," she heard Diggle say.

Yup, she was pretty proud of herself.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hey guys! Yes, I'm still alive, and no, I haven't abandoned this fic. I know it's been forever since I updated, and I apologize, but I hope this chapter will make up for it. Enjoy!**

 **C14:**

The next morning, Felicity sent a list of possible unsubs - she'd been watching a lot of Criminal Minds lately, okay? - to Oliver. She received a reply almost immediately.

' _I'll look into it, thx. Mind if we have lunch at my place instead?'_

Felicity frowned. Well that was a non-sequitur. ' _Sure, same time?'_

' _Yes, wear something nice ;)'_

She was blushing. She was _definitely_ blushing. Usually, sexual innuendo was her thing. Although hers was usually also unintentional, and this seemed… _very_ intentional. Unless he was clueless as to how that sounded. Which was entirely possible, considering it was Oliver. Yeah, he was probably just clueless. Which begged the question…

' _If its at ur house, y do I need to dress nice? :p'_ She sent a smiley face just in case.

' _There'll b some other ppl there.'_ he sent. ' _Dont hate me.'_

Felicity groaned. She knew it. She _knew_ it! She shouldn't have gotten her hopes up like that, how stupid could she be? Of course it wasn't a date. He'd even said so, he'd literally said 'something casual'. So of course he'd invited other people.

' _Um, what ppl?'_ she sent.

' _Just some ppl my mom knows. Please, Felicity, I don't want to do this alone. I'll make it up to you, I promise'_ was his reply. Felicity groaned. How could she possibly say no now?

' _I hate you'_ she sent before she could stop herself. Damn. Was that too forward? Would he think she meant it?

' _Liar :) Diggle will pick you up at 11 so you can go change. I cleared it with your boss ;) '_

Then, ' _Thank you so much, Felicity.'_

Hm, proper punctuation and everything. He really did know her. Oh well, she could start planning her revenge right now. A quick google search would no doubt reveal the most girly bar she could drag him to. Or even better; a gay bar! Okay, her mood was improving again!

/*/

By the time Diggle showed up at her cubicle, Felicity had nearly chewed off the end of her pen from sheer nervousness. Finding possible gay bars to drag Oliver to could only distract her for so long.

"Ready?" Diggle asked.

"As I'll ever be," she replied, grabbed her stuff and followed the bodyguard to the underground parking. As they rode the elevator down, the lack of elevator music got to Felicity. "So, what's it like, working with Oliver?"

Diggle glanced at her. "Well, I haven't been at it very long, but it's… interesting," he replied.

When he didn't immediately keep going, Felicity thought he wasn't going to elaborate, so she started singing Purple Rain in her head to compensate for the silence.

"He's definitely stubborn. But he's a good man, and he's honestly trying to help the city. Not just on the surface, but truly make it a better place," Diggle went on. "I may not always approve of his methods or choices, but I do believe that."

Felicity sighed. "I don't really approve of the methods he uses either."

Diggle smiled humorlessly. "You mean the fact that he kills most of his targets?" he asked.

She nodded silently. It still bothered her. But she loved Oliver, and she wasn't sure that it was her place to say anything. Like Diggle had said; Oliver really was trying to make this city a better place.

"Sometimes there's no other choice. Being a soldier taught me that. Oliver could gather all the evidence in the world, but as long as the system's corrupt, the most powerful will find a way to weasel out of their problems. And since they're at the root of the problems in this city, Oliver doesn't think he can do anything else," he explained.

The elevator dinged, and they stepped out into the abandoned garage.

"I hadn't thought of it that way," she admitted quietly. Perhaps she didn't know Oliver as well as she thought she did. Or, more likely, she just couldn't understand that part of him? Not in the way a soldier like Diggle could.

The bodyguard shrugged. "It's not always the right choice, but sometimes it's the only one. And I don't think it's as easy for Oliver to make those choices as he lets on. Or, I hope it isn't."

Felicity didn't reply as she let that sink in. She supposed that it made sense… But still. There had to be a better way. Maybe rooting out the corruption in the legal system first and then put Oliver's corrupt millionaires through the system? Hmm… This warranted some thought.

When they arrived at her flat, she quickly got changed into a fashionable blue dress and quickly twisted her hair up into something more elegant than her usual ponytail. It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do. All that rested was exchanging her flats for some heels and she was ready to go.

They arrived at noon on the dot, but Felicity was feeling a little apprehensive. She liked Walter well enough, and obviously, she loved Thea, but she'd never had much cause to get to know Mrs. Queen. The Queen matriarch had always seemed stand-offish at best, and cold at worst, and the woman had always either ignored Felicity or been very short with her. So what did that say about the guests she had invited?

"You ready?" Diggle asked kindly as he held open her door.

"As I'll ever be," she muttered, and got out of the car. Time to put on her best polite smile and get through lunch with Mrs. Queen.

/*/

Oliver Queen was a dead man.

Felicity had been right on time, and had awkwardly greeted Mrs. Queen, only to hear that Oliver hadn't arrived yet. And then Diggle left. He _left_ her there.

Instead, she was left making conversation with Carter Bowen and his mother.

"So, how do you know Oliver?" Mrs. Bowen asked. There was a distinct nosy edge to her tone that Felicity instantly disliked.

"Oh, uhm, we went to school together," she replied non-commitally.

"Really?" Carter said, his eyes dipping down to her chest for a brief moment. Clearly, he had his own theory on how she and Oliver were acquainted.

"Ms. Smoak also works for my husband," Mrs. Queen said. Felicity had to actively keep from frowning. It was an innocent statement in and of itself, but the way she said it… she might as well have said 'oh, she's only an employee, she's not good enough for my son'.

"Oh, speaking of your darling husband, I'm sorry to hear he can't make it," Mrs. Bowen replied, completely losing interest in Felicity, who couldn't be happier about this turn of the conversation. The less time they spent scutinizing her, the better.

"And where's Oliver? He's not out of town, too, is he?" Carter asked, having similarly forgotten about the blonde IT girl.

"Oh, I'm sure he's just-"

"Stuck in traffic," the man in question said as he entered the room. "One of the things I didn't miss on the island, Sunday drivers. Sorry I'm late."

Felicity noticed that he always seemed to mention the island when he didn't want people to question him, and filed that away for later.

Oliver kissed his mother's cheek and then, much to Felicity's surprise, came to stand by her, his hand resting on the small of her back.

"We're so happy you're home," Mrs. Bowen said, sounding genuine.

"And a celebrity, too," Carter added.

Oliver frowned, even as he led the guests to the table. "How do you mean?"

"Billionaire scion, castaway for 5 years… You know there's a bidding war for the rights to your life story. At least, that's what my agent says," he replied, smiling that same fake smile Oliver had perfected.

"Agent? I thought you were a neurosurgeon, Carter?" he asked.

"He wrote a book on how long term potentiation initiates the creation of a slow-mocing protein synthesis," Felicity answered without thinking.

So, of course, everyone turned to stare. "It had a little too much speculation and one or two leaps, but overall it was an interesting idea," she said, feeling just a little smug.

Oliver looked a little confused, yet also amused. Even Mrs. Queen looked the slightest bit impressed.

"You… read my book?" Carter asked, a little uneasily.

She shrugged as she placed a napkin on her lap. "I leafed through it. No offence, but I think Oliver's life story might be a little more exciting."

Carter seemed to collect himself. "Well, I'm sure my agent would agree. Truth is, I just feel it's our duty as Starling City's more fortunate to help those most in need."

Imagine that, he managed to turn the conversation back to himself again.

"Oh, of course," Mrs. Queen said.

"Wouldn't you agree, Oliver?" Carter asked.

"You're the hero, Carter," Oliver replied a tad self-depracatingly. "I'll stick with being a regular billionaire scion."

"Oh, I'm sure you have more in you than that," Mrs. Bowen intercut. "What are your plans?"

Mrs. Queen tensed - for good reason, Felicity allowed, given Oliver's 'performance' at the dedication ceremony - and looked at her son intently.

"I'm considering a few things, but nothing concrete," Oliver replied evasively, polite smile firmly in place.

"And what about you, Ms. Smoak?" Carter asked, once again eyeing her with far too much interest.

Felicity hated being put on the spot like that, and her mind went blank. What were her plans for the future? Who even asked that over a casual lunch?

"Oh, I have no doubt that will one day be able to write her own book about her rise to the top. She's the smartest person I know," Oliver interceded.

Felicity was immensely grateful, not just for the compliment - which she accepted with a muttered 'thank you' and a blush - but for the subtle social maneuvering he did. Oliver had drawn attention to himself, and his possible motives, and even if they did think to ask the question again, it would be impolite to do so now.

"But back to your original question, I'm opening a night club," Oliver went on smoothly.

Carter did a double take, while his mother just frowned in confusion, and Mrs. Queen glared at her son. Luckily, though, Oliver was saved from answering when Mr. Diggle came in and made a beeline for him. "Mr. Queen, you have a phone call, he said, and then proceeded to whisper something else in his ear. Felicity had no doubt it had something to do with the case they'd been working on.

"Sorry. Business," he said, and swiftly left the table, leaving his family to frown at him, and their guests confused.

A moment later, he re-entered the room. "Something's come up that I have to go deal with, I apologise."

"Oh, is it the thing you needed my help with?" Felicity piped up, shooting Oliver a pleading look. He had better not leave her alone with these people again.

"Yes. I apologise for pulling you away from your lunch," he said.

"No rest for the weary," she replied, perhaps a little too cheerfully. But at this point, she hardly cared.

As Oliver led her away from the dining room - his hand once again resting on the small of her back - she shot her a half-smile. "Did you really read his book?"

"Oh god, no. I just googled him and skimmed one or two reviews while Raisa was putting away my coat."

And now he was grinning. "You evil mastermind, you."

She shrugged playfully. "I try."

/*/

Oliver offered to have Diggle drop her off home after he went to deal with the bank robbers, but she declined. She didn't want Oliver to be without backup simply because Diggle was stuck playing driver.

So that's how she came to sit in what she had mentally dubbed 'The Arrow Cave', listening in on the comms.

"Seriously, your system could use an update," she said, pulling up her nose at the primitive setup.

"I'll be sure to put that on my to do list," Oliver growled lowly.

Raising an eyebrow, Felicity turned to Diggle. "Does he always do that growly voice?"

Diggle was clearly amused, and didn't bother hiding his grin. "Pretty much."

"There they are," Oliver said over the comms, and Felicity's merriment melted away.

A moment later, the fighting began, and Felicity gripped the edge of her seat. Diggle leaned over and muted the mic, making sure that any noise they made wouldn't disturb Oliver. "You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just… it's intense."

"You get used to it," he shrugged.

She was quiet for a moment, listening to the dull sound of the shootout Oliver was currently in. "So, what do you usually do? You know, when Oliver's... " she trailed off, gesturing vaguely at the computers.

"I monitor the comms, download building schematics or other information when needed," Diggle replied.

Frowning, Felicity looked up at him. "Really? Wouldn't it be better if you were out there with him? You know, providing backup?"

Diggle shrugged, his eyes on the computer screen once again. "Maybe so, but someone has to do this."

Felicity swallowed her automatic answer. She was a computer genius - if she did say so herself - so this was a job that she would be perfect for. But did she really want to become embroiled in this world? Wasn't it bad enough already that she was as involved with the vigilante as she was?

She knew Oliver would never ask, might even protest if she were to suggest it - but did she want to? _Could_ she start working with the infamous Hood?

As Oliver reported that the robbers had gotten away, and Diggle unmuted the mic, she vowed to think about it.

Inwardly, she rolled her eyes at herself. How had it become her life that she was now actively considering starting to work for a vigilante?

Then again, when had her life ever been easy or logical when it came to Oliver Queen?

 **A/N: Please let me know what you think! I had to write Thea out of the lunch scene, unfortunately, because when I went back and read it, I realized she didn't really do anything, and Thea would never have just sat there so passively. But I could also not find a way to change the dialogue to include her more, so I decided to leave her out. I'll probably put in a scene with her and Felicity in the next chapter.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that! Please leave me a review!**


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